Keith Reed
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The power of social media is undeniable. Using that power to promote positivity and acceptance is ideal in a world increasingly involved with technology. Many may have heard of #DamnDaniel, #BlackLivesMatter, and #MarriageEquality. These social-media campaigns have transformed the landscape of today’s culture from sharing a love of someone’s look to fighting injustices all over the nation. It is undeniable the power of a skillfully placed hashtag, and one sorority on campus is throwing its hat into the ring.
The Epsilon Theta chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority held an event that was aptly titled MelaninRich in early March. The name of the event is a small precursor to what it entailed. The word “melanin” has become synonymous today with the praising of the non-Eurocentric features that African and African-American people commonly possess. A simple search of melanin on Twitter will graciously generate a beautiful array of melanin-rich individuals.
The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s event was a two-day affair. The first day featured an interactive photo session in the efforts to engage this image-driven society. The purpose of the session was to uplift the black community in a time when we are incredibly scrutinized. The messages varied and cohesively stated that black is, in fact, beautiful and that inferiority is a construct.
The second day of the event featured Shonda Monette, a UI instructor and laboratory specialist in the Chemistry Department, who held a discussion and started the ever-present conversation of breaking down the Eurocentric norms. The conversation unearthed the commonly learned conceptions present in black beauty standards, identity, and being confident about skin tone. Following the photo session with a discussion was vital to its concretization. The ephemeral quality of this society and the sheer amount of media we consume has rendered pictures one of the first things to be forgotten but can also last the longest.
Howard University held a comparable campaign on its campus. Howard’s campaign was called #HUes, a student push for body positivity and an exploration of the many beautiful shades of blackness. The image is an 8-by-8 grid square that features a different topless individual in each of the smaller squares along with varying colors, connecting it back to the project title.
Baylor University also had an unofficial campaign started by the black community on campus. They spoke out on what they have experienced. Parsing the #BUrememberwhen page on Twitter only returns many outraged students because of the lack of diversity present on campus. On April 14, the Baylor chapter of the NAACP reported that its funding has been doubled because of the staggering response to this campaign.
Social-media movements can be hard to start and difficult to follow because of their expansive and all-encompassing nature. All that can be said is you should be vigilant and speak up about things that you are unhappy with. Many students and teachers you may know are speaking out about injustices on our campus. We can only support these people in their endeavors to make waves in these still ponds we exist in.