This transcript has been slightly edited for clarity.
Sherry Williams starts with an overview of her book, which discusses how Black Twitter changed representation in television.
Sherri Williams: The book is essentially about how Black Americans have had to be defensive of our images throughout the time that we've been in this country because our images have been so distorted and used against us to justify our oppression. So, whether this was in the early 1900s with the NAACP protesting "The Birth of a Nation", which we know is a notoriously racist film, or whether it was Black people trying to not have a show called "All My Babies' Mamas" that really showcased the worst stereotypes of Black fatherhood and Black dysfunction. There have always been different ways that we have protested against our images.
Michael Symonds: What was it with Twitter that kind of went to Hollywood like, "Oh, we have to pay attention to these voices on Twitter"?
Williams: Well, I think it was the functionality of it. And again, like I talked about, Twitter at that point in time was a place where news was being made, right? So, we know that the hashtag is basically a signal to people to pay attention to something, to a specific item or a specific issue, and just the hashtag ability to be able to have like one conversation that people latched on to that could be amplified. I think it was a part of the technological affordances that helped that make that kind of a virality— be going viral, possible. But at the same time Twitter was again a place where news was being made. It was a place that people— where people were paying attention to what was happening. And again, users had a direct line to people in Hollywood who were the power brokers. And I think another thing that is important about Twitter is that it took the gatekeepers away.
William says Twitter connected everyday people with Hollywood elites, from actors to producers. This, coupled with the exposure tweets could receive, made criticism harder to ignore.
Williams: There could not be a whole lot of gatekeeping of the voices that we never really heard from before. And those voices had, in the way that Twitter was set up, there was an opportunity for those voices to not only be heard, but for them to also be amplified.
Twitter users used the platform strategically according to Williams, going after advertisers for supporting media that portrayed stereotypical depictions of the Black community. Williams says these critiques of Black representation were important.
Williams: Most people do not have a large or diverse social circle. By that, I mean a lot of us still live segregated lives in segregated societies. And most often when we meet people who are not like us, it is mostly through media representations. And during that time in particular, a lot of what we saw on television and in society and even thinking about ways that people were talking about the first Black first lady, Michelle Obama, was through a really problematic and distorted racialized, racist lens.
Williams adds that racist depictions of Black women can create controlling images, media that reinforces stereotypical and racist ideas to make them seem natural and normal, and to dehumanize the group being portrayed.
Williams: Stereotypes of Black women in media basically say to the rest of the country that Black women are not like the rest of ... America and they don't deserve the same rights and privileges as we do, as the rest of the country.
Symonds: What is the current landscape of Black Twitter? What's happening to it? What's going to happen to it, I guess? What's the power of it?
Williams: I think that the presence that Black people have on digital platforms is still very strong, but I don't think that the presence of Black Twitter is as influential as it used to be. And also, I think that is because Twitter is just not the place that it used to be, and it doesn't have the same influence that it did. And specifically after Elon Musk acquired it, because, as you know, a lot of the moderators who were working there making sure that content was safe and conversations were safe for people. He immediately fired them. A lot of the hate speech that was at least toned down— because Twitter has not ever been a super safe place for anyone who is not a cisgender heterosexual white man. But at least before, when Jack Dorsey owned it, it was at least better. They were at least trying to make it a safer place for everybody. But once Elon Musk acquired it, a lot of that went away. We saw that the N-word was used multiple times within the first week or so of his having it. Homophobia spiked on the platform and GLAAD actually designated Twitter as the most unsafe social media platform for people across the LGBTQ spectrum.
GLAAD is a non-profit LGBTQ+ advocacy group which monitors social media platforms for discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
Symonds: Are we headed towards a non-recognition era as companies start to move away from representation?
Williams: I am worried about us moving into a non-recognition era. But what I'm really seeing is that a lot of the problems that Hollywood is having right now might feed into that. And I think it's two things that are happening. Not only are we as a country refusing to recognize that all of its citizens are here and have narratives, histories and stories that have helped to shape this country, but we also have a Hollywood that is struggling on the heels of the pandemic and the financial fallout of that, on the heels of the writers’ and actors' strike. Hollywood itself is struggling. Like it is difficult for anything to get made now.
William says minority groups are often cut first during economic downturns.
Williams: What I am concerned about is not only this whole idea of not recognizing and supporting the narratives of marginalized people, but also the financial struggles that are happening at the same time. And I do worry about that. But at the same time, I do know that Hollywood and others recognize that there is a market for it.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
