Earlier this week, TIME Magazine announced its Person of the Year award. The honor went to the Ebola caregivers, followed by the Ferguson protesters.
Fine picks. Here would have been an interesting pick, though: Black Twitter, because it was another stellar year for the Twitter movement.
Why is Black Twitter so great? For a number of different reasons. It’s smart and funny and brave, and Black Twitter has a special gift of picking up on the nuances that many miss.
But the best thing that can be said about Black Twitter is that they start conversations, whether it’s about silly stuff like Chris Brown‘s relationship status and LeBron James‘ hairline, or stuff that matters, like police brutality, street harassment, and how silly the idea of black on black crime is.
So let’s reflect on another excellent Black Twitter year: Here are the best Black Twitter Moments of 2014.
Pharrell SHADE
Pharrell released the cover of his latest album, G I R L, and he immediately caught hell for it. The album is supposed to be an ode to all women. And on the cover Pharrell is standing next to three beautiful women — none dark-skinned.
After a couple of days of criticism, P made amends by featuring a dark-skinned girl on the “Marilyn Monroe” single cover.
Macklemore “robs” Kendrick Lamar
We all saw it coming. Still, it was quite shocking to see Macklemore take home the Grammy for Best Rap Album over Kendrick Lamar. That wasn’t the best part of the night, though. That came when Macklemore posted a personal text he sent to Kendrick apologizing for robbing him. We’re not sure if “Kendrick Real” shot him one back.
Brooklyn got slumped in Arizona
In April, a video of a man repping New York City getting knocked out cold, after starting the fight, hit the ‘net.
There were memes for days.
#PoorMichelle
Michelle Williams has a number of unfortunate pictures with her Destiny’s Child sisters. And Twitter was able to find every single one of them and crack jokes like the one you see above.
Shower Rod
Beyonce had her surfboardt. MiMi has her shower rod. A trailer for a MiMi Faust porno with Nikko hit the ‘Net. The trailer was largely basic…with the exception of a very powerful shower rod.
#BringBackOurGirls
#BlackTwitter isn’t just jokes. When 273 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram, an extremist Muslim group, a hashtag was created to spread awareness: #BringBackOurGirls.
Every time Lupita Nyong’o did anything
It’s been quiet for the girl lately, but earlier in the year, Lupita made major waves on Twitter whenever she showed up at a ball or a gala or awards show or a magazine cover.
Fine Felon
That, ladies and gentlemen, is Jeremy Meeks. He’s a felon that got pinched for “possession of a firearm” earlier in the year. He’s also dreamy, with his blue eyes and strong jawline. And ladies swooned over the handsome felon when his mugshot was released this year.
Jaden Smith = Twitter God
Just for pure entertainment purposes, Jaden Smith has the best Twitter handle on the ‘Net. We’re not sure if Jaden is a genius or if he’s trolling, but Smith’s Twitter timeline is filled with gems like “All Trees Are Blues.” Black Twitter continued the fun by creating the #TweetLifeJadenSmith hashtag.
Boosie Byke
After five years in prison, popular rapper Lil Boosie was released on March 5th. We were all excited. But no one was more excited than Boosie’s little daughter, as you can see in the video above, which quickly went viral.
Ruff Ride
DMX hasn’t done much musically this year. But his presence was felt when a video of him riding a roller coaster and going nuts was released. This is the greatest DMX video since the whole Google thing.
Floyd & T.I. Knuckle Up
T.I. earned points as the bravest rapper in hip-hop after he and his crew got in a scuffle with Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s crew. The fight happened because of Tiny, T.I.’s wife.
There’s a chance Floyd can’t read
Illiteracy isn’t funny. But still, Black Twitter got a kick out of this video that Charlamagne tha God from The Breakfast Club put up, featuring the boxer struggling to read a radio drop.
P.O.P.!
Things don’t always go viral right away. Sometimes it takes time, like this video of a Texas women being arrested. There are multiple quotables in the video (“P.O.P.! Hold it down!”) which is why the clip became so popular. The woman, who we would find out is named Donna Goudeau, became a little famous, despite the fact that she is currently doing over 18 years in prison.
Durag History Week
Started by Twitter user W.E.B.B.I.E DuBois, Durag History week was a funny way to show off pictures of celebrities wearing durags. (Ex: David Beckham.) It was also a way to mock these high-end brands that label the durag as the “new hot trend,” or whatever.
We still hate Don Lemon
Wait, we still hate Don Lemon? Yes, yes we do. For. So. Many. Reasons.
Young Thug and his “hubbie”
Rich Gang is a hip-hop supergroup featuring Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, and Birdman. They are very close, particularly Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan. People were confused when Thugga Thugga called Quan his “hubbie” in an Instagram caption. Thug would go on to say he’s not gay, that’s just how he and his partners talk. We feel you, hubbie.
GBE vs. Migos
Migos and Chief Keef have been sending shots at each other for over a year now. Then things started to get dangerous, with the two sides making violent threats to each other. Everything finally boiled over when Migos was jumped by GBE members in D.C. Migos member Quavo lost his chain in the process and Chief got a hold. Luckily, the two sides squashed the beef.
Bill Cosby Meme Fail
With new rape allegations popping up daily, Bill Cosby thought it was a good idea to tweet out a Meme Generator with his face on it.
It was not.
Hate-watching the Aaliyah movie
How did we watch TV before Twitter? Social media has made the TV viewing experience about one hundred times more fun, especially when everyone on your timeline is watching it. The Twitter TV moment of the year was watching lifetime’s Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B. The TV-movie was just terrible all-around and viewers flamed the movie and its executive producer Wendy Williams for weeks.
Chris Brown and Karrueche no more
Oh, Chris Brown. The singer has never been able to check his emotions. Just this past weekend, he went on an epic Instagram rant about his now-ex girlfriend Karrueche. In typical Chris Brown fashion, he would delete the post and then apologize a little while later. We’re quite sure this won’t be the last we’ll hear from these two.
Ferguson
We love the jokes and the drama of Black Twitter. But Black Twitter has done important work. None more important than the work done in Ferguson. Straight up: this became a story because Black Twitter made it a story. When unarmed teenager Mike Brown was gunned down by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, Black Twitter was the one passing around that heartbreaking picture of Brown’s dad holding that sign. Black Twitter was the one that covered those first nights of protest. Black Twitter was there to tell you that they weren’t causing the mayhem being shown on CNN and Fox News: it was the aggressive police causing that mayhem. Black Twitter made sure you knew that #BlackLivesMatter by being their voice. And when no indictment came in for Darren Wilson, Black Twitter was the place we mourned together.
PHOTO CREDIT: Instagram, Twitter, Getty
