Memes to the Front

It might be surprising, but in the hellfire that is 2020, memes have played a crucial role in social movements. This series highlights specifically the positive effect memes specifically created by BIPOC have had in rallying people and disseminating valuable information in the civil rights protests we’ve seen erupting all over America and the world in response to Geroge Floyd’s death. They are themselves a space for radical decolonization as Black and other non-Black voices are finally being heard in mainstream culture.

In her 2016 article Poor Meme, Rich Meme, artist and critic Aria Dean explains the progression of the word “meme:” “The term has evolved: once used to describe ideas or behaviors that are passed from person to person, ‘meme’ now refers metonymically to internet memes, which are as trope-filled and easy-made as stock imagery, but are unprofessional and intentionally funny, with often-absurdist text floating on or above a low-res image.” To put it another way, memes now serve as a form of cultural shorthand, where relevant events and opinions in modern culture are transformed into shareable, bite-sized pieces, often in Black vernacular.

“‘Memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation … They compete with one another for limited resources: brain time or bandwidth. They compete most of all for attention,” says Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist who coined the term “meme.” Attention, both immediate and long term, is important for the strength of this movement, for it to continue to demand change at the level it is doing right now. In an article published by Smithsonian Magazine, science historian James Gleick walks readers through the many factors that define a meme. He touches on the immense importance of tone in internet memes, quoting philosopher Daniel Dennet who claimed, “a meme is an information-packet with attitude.” Attitude is perhaps the greatest strength of political, text-based memes, grabbing people’s attention as they scroll. through social media., the woman pictured — Thema, a 26-year-old mother to one son with another on the way — stated that she posted the image of herself on Instagram where it went viral after users took screenshots and spread it throughout other platforms. There’s strength in the anonymity of collective sharing that made this image a viral sensation, though it is concerning that the image’s celebrity comes at the cost of the recognition of Thelma’s role in creating it in the first place. 

Memes — which can be images, videos, drawings, and more — populate all social platforms and rarely concern themselves with the context of who created it in the first place. In an interview with Good Morning America, the woman pictured — Thema, a 26-year-old mother to one son with another on the way — stated that she posted the image of herself on Instagram where it went viral after users took screenshots and spread it throughout other platforms. There’s strength in the anonymity of collective sharing that made this image a viral sensation, though it is concerning that the image’s celebrity comes at the cost of the recognition of Thelma’s role in creating it in the first place., the woman pictured — Thema, a 26-year-old mother to one son with another on the way — stated that she posted the image of herself on Instagram where it went viral after users took screenshots and spread it throughout other platforms. There’s strength in the anonymity of collective sharing that made this image a viral sensation, though it is concerning that the image’s celebrity comes at the cost of the recognition of Thelma’s role in creating it in the first place. 

Memes, and in particular their share-ability, emphasize individual responsibility for celebrities in particular. On the right,  musical artist Kehlani uses her Instagram account — which boasts 11.6 million followers — as a platform upon which she can disseminate information about the Black Lives Matter movement and her support of it. Here and on many similar tweets, instagrams, facebook stories and feeds from celebrities, and for the first time, specifically Black celebrities and non-Black people of color, social media posts have become their own memes as they are screenshot and disseminated across the internet.

Language plays a massive role in the impact memes, specifically politicized memes, play online. “Political Twitter Memes” have quickly become calls to action. The “relatable” text — using all-lowercase and casual, familiar tone, and Black vernacular — makes it easier to identify with such messaging as we scroll quickly through our feeds. It’s a simple tactic, but it works to encourage users to acknowledge cold hard truths through humor.

The unique circumstances of many intersecting world events — the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest, worldwide demonstrations against police brutality, a massive cultural conversation about white supremacy — brings memes to the forefront of the political discourse. If you thought everyone was on social media a lot before, it is only natural to assume that it has exponentially blown up now as most people have no other way to stay in touch and socialize while they quarantine.Political twitter memes make it easier to  process and identify connections between seemingly isolated events. Having it spelled out simply and succinctly, it’s easier to see how multiple events tell a larger story of injustice and violence. More often than not, it is Black people who create them using Black vernacular.

Attention, both immediate and long-term, is important for maintaining the strength of this movement.

Another important aspect of the political twitter meme is its use of satire.“Satire can amplify issues. Sure, you laugh about them, but you are going to think about them,” explains information scientist Allison Head in an interview with Pacific Standard. “It's part of the shifting nature of news: news is not confined to these categories of "here's the most important thing to know.’ The delivery has changed, and memes are part of it. To get a joke, you have to know the context. In that sense, a lot of students found memes as an entryway into news.”

So what is the ultimate message here? The meme itself is sending a message: memes have traditionally been spaces of appropriating black language, but we are seeing political twitter memes that are going viral now being a space of decolonization not only by giving Black voices credit for their work, but also in the content, calls to action, and support of protestors. The WORDS of Black people are being shared, not just inappropriate videos of dying black bodies and brutality. Memes are more than just silly quotes with out of context pictures they are a base for twitter (and other social media platforms’) users who are creating content to educate the masses.

Memes can not be acknowledged without also acknowledging the fact that most are created by Black people that never get credit for it because social media loves Black vernacular, but not Black people. Why can we relate to the Black vernacular and not Black people? White people love cultures that are not their own. A lot of memes co-opt and appropriate black vernacular language because it is “ funny,” forgetting that it is born out of 400 years of oppression and survival. In helping uplift black voices and people, political twitter memes more than ever before are helping give credit to Black people for their words and language since the screenshots include their twitter handle and profile picture. It’s a start at recognition and credit but the internet has a long way to go.  f