The holidays are here, and there has been a lot of talk about how African Americans should support black businesses. Yet, because people find resources to buy black to be very limited, Lanee Javet of culsire.com has been a leader in spreading the word about buying black, and where you can spend your dollars with a variety of black-owned businesses near you. One of the platforms she used was Facebook, and somewhere down the line her communications all came to a halt. Lanee claims Facebook banned her for 14 days because she was allegedly spreading racist posts by simply asking people to shop black.
Lanee took some time to speak with Dr. Boyce Watkins about her issues with being banned, and one of the things that caught much of my attention in this discussion, because its been on my mind for quite some time, is how we allow ourselves to rely on a single platform to connect with one another. Particularly a platform that in many ways has an obligation to side with the ones who are making them money. Not saying that’s the case here, but it’s something to really think about.
“At the push of a button Mark Zuckerberg can shut it all down.”
Both Dr. Boyce Watkins and Lanee pointed out that while using social media is a great tool, we shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. Old school still works, and one of the most effective ways to stay in contact with your audience is via email. So, if there’s something out there you like and want to stay a part of, BlackLivesMatter, or whatever, don’t be afraid to share your information, because you never know when Facebook, Twitter, or any other platform may decide to make the disconnection without warning or even good reason.
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