I shed a few tears this past Thanksgiving break.
No, there was nothing wrong with me (although I could cry about the massive amount of work that waited for me at the door upon my return to school). But Black Twitter struck gold once again, and left everyone crying with the trending hashtag #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies.
2015 has been a draining year in news for many people of color. Between the era of #BlackLivesMatter, active protests on college campuses by students of color, and release of dash-cam footage on Nov. 24 of the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, 17, in Chicago, there has been much to mourn.
But these top moments from #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies were a reminder that people of color can come together not only in protest, but to laugh:
When you just finished your third plate & you see them start bringing out dessert… #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies pic.twitter.com/CiQJesZpvI
— Common Black Girl (@CommonBlackGirI) November 27, 2015
When all ur cousins are spending the night & ur mom is still deciding if u can stay #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies pic.twitter.com/3i0nbm7Rf6
— BJ Thompson (@bj116) November 25, 2015
When family members start arguing and bottled up feelings start coming out: #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies pic.twitter.com/0cP0cnHnHu
— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Cosby_) November 25, 2015
#ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies #ThanksgivingWithWestIndianFamilies and #ThanksgivingClapBack giving us the living laughs in the kitchen 🙂
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) November 26, 2015
when ya mom and aunt both bring macaroni and cheese #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies pic.twitter.com/OVndJhtRGJ
— WORLDSTARHIPHOP (@WORLDSTAR) November 27, 2015
It's such a rookie move to put onions in the #potatosalad. Thats when I don't try anything else on the table #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies
— Wade Davis II (@Wade_Davis28) November 27, 2015
Does the hilarity of #ThanksgivingClapBack and #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies count? Because they were gold! https://t.co/J96ogJwFnW
— Chron Thompson (@ChronsOfNon) November 30, 2015
My #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies tag I created, alone shows how much of a family we are. Gotta love one another better and more.
— Veteran Freshman (@yusufyuie) November 30, 2015
But not everyone understood the humorous #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies provided.
Black people can tweet #ThanksgivingWithWhiteFamilies all day but if a white person tweets #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies it's racist. 🐸☕️
— Ryan (@RyanYouKnow) November 25, 2015
A few tweets circulated using the contrasting hashtag #ThanksgivingWithWhiteFamilies
No shootings,no stabbings ,the whole family is at the table, not in prison, all the fathers are accounted for #ThanksgivingWithWhiteFamilies
— Burke Dennings (@BurkeDenn13) November 24, 2015
And the response was golden.
When you want to start being racist about the hashtag #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies, this is what you should do. pic.twitter.com/viPPR1Auhs
— nigel. (@thenigelj) November 24, 2015
#ThanksgivingForBlackFamilies created a much needed space of communal humor, amidst the intense (but much needed) conversations that often occur on social media. But even within that space of more than 1,500 tweets in circulation, there still left some room for opposition and the usual Twitter trolls.
But it still could not stop the good times from rolling.
Thank you Twitter for another great moment in hashtag history.
I really like your voice in this post! You have an excellent comedic, yet genuine tone that I think really makes it easy to connect with the piece. I also liked that you chose a topic that has a lot more room to be fun rather than heavy. You hi lighted people’s stupidity in a way that made your point but wasn’t argumentative. You did a really nice job!
I wrote about the same thing, really interesting point of view. I like how you put yourself into your writing, it made it easy to relate to when reading it!
I was actually going to write about the same hashtag! I truly appreciate the way Black people were able to virtually bond over this Hashtag. All over Instagram and Twitter, Black people were talking about something good and funny instead of the tragedies that have been happening too often in our communities. Great post!