Notices by mekka okereke :verified: (mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)

🤯 This year in social media is wild. The latest chapter is no exception. Fascinating data and anecdotes.

Data:
* Over 430K Fediverse accounts created in the past week. And it's accelerating.

https://mastodon.social/@mastodonusercount/110576430285028932

Anecdotes:
Major communities may be moving soon.

https://kbin.social/m/RedditMigration/t/59559/Removed-as-moderator-of-r-Celebrities-after-14-years

Here's the Fediverse version of "celebrities" with exactly 1 subscriber so far... the person who claimed to be the former moderator of the celebrities sub-reddit.
https://kbin.social/m/celebrities

I'm still sticking with my call that *long-term*, decentralized social media will be the winner. Too many of the world's greatest Android and iOS mobile development teams are now building for the fediverse. Too many of the world's best *human* moderation, privacy, and safety, experts are on the fediverse. The user benefits are too aligned, despite companies not having the usual metrics and analytics to optimize the experience.

Fighting the fediverse is like fighting a flood by punching it.

Yes, Mastodon still has huge problems with "HOA racism" and user safety. But there is a "path to green" for all of these problems. And people (including me! 🙋🏿♂️) are working on them.

Yes, the current version of ActivityPub is not ready for what's coming. But again, too many of the world's best SREs and API designers are now poking ActivityPub with a stick again, now that the scale constraints have changed.

If Fediverse wins, dozens (hundreds?) of mobile apps and services have a continued path to be sustainable businesses. Yes, some of the big ones are VC funded. But many of the others are not. Unapologetically: I like helping to create paths for user benefit centered, trust based, innovative, companies to thrive.

The Fediverse is messy. Just like democracy is messy. But they're both ideas that are too powerful to ignore. They tap into too much human power of both intellect and inspiration.

Happy #BlackHistoryMonth !

Still not talking about Black History. Still talking about white US History.

The US *loves* soldiers and veterans! Virtuous! Service! 🇺🇲🦅

The US *hates* homeless people. Lazy! Dirty! Want a handout!

But... ~1 in every 20 US homeless folk is a Black or hispanic veteran. 🤷🏿♂️

In the USA, the phrase "support our troops!" is a euphemism that does mean military jingoism, but doesn't mean supporting all of our troops.

#BlackMastodon

Q: Why do Black folk disrespect the military by kneeling during the anthem?

A: But... most active duty military fully support the kneeling protests? 🙂🙃

You'll understand why that support exists, once you understand the military's true demographics. About 47% of the military is non-white.

There's a stark contrast between most "honor our veterans" PR montages and a non-staged photo of a large group of service personnel. You can't "honor vets" or "support troops" by ignoring half of them.

Black service members have served with distinction in every US war, going back to Independence.

Shout out to everyone that's seen the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware, but never noticed the Black guy in the boat! 🙋🏿♂️

If serving with honor were a path to being seen as a "real American," Black folk would've achieved that goal long ago.

But I still run into EU immigrants (who just got their green card last year!), telling me that "BLM protesters don't love this country like I do!"🤡

I frequently have to remind my friends in Silicon Valley, that the military is not "more right wing" than Silicon Valley. The military is more inclusive.

There are way more Black employees in the military than in Silicon Valley. Military demographics look closer to real US society, but with Black people being *over* represented.

If you're standing in a room of 100 VCs in Atherton, vs a room of 100 active duty marines in Camp Pendleton, there are more Trump voters in the Atherton room. 🙂🙃

Black service members who served in wars, were often denied access to the GI Bill when they returned.

So white veterans could get loans for college, or to buy a house. Black veterans could not. This lack of access to affordable education and affordable housing had devastating impacts on Black veteran homelessness.

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/18/1129735948/black-vets-were-excluded-from-gi-bill-benefits-a-bill-in-congress-aims-to-fix-th

Black veterans were also denied access to medical care and benefits. This lack of access to healthcare also drove homelessness.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9XEj1AL9Bsw

🤔 I know that people love Ted Talks, but for some reason, I keep running into Ted Talk fans that have never seen this one?

White Mike Ted Talk:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1DxHL2i3cZo

What we consider "Black music," is defined by racist systems. The same racist systems that cannot prevent the murder of young Black men, defines that narrow slice of most deviant Black music, as the whole.

Yes, I listen to trap and drill music. No I don't think Violet rap should all be censored. I'm not Nancy Reagan.

In the US, "Black products" can be thought of as falling into one of 3 categories.

1) Made by Black people
2) Made for Black people
3) Black people are the product

Many products are a combination. Football is 2) and 3).

Violent rap is mostly 1) and 3). It's "Black" music made for the white ear. That's how a lot of white US music listeners see Black people. 🤷🏿♂️

Trap and dril are definitely *part* of Black music culture, but they're not even close to most of it. But that's how the world sees it.

Happy #BlackHistoryMonth !

I will get to Black history. For now, I'm still on white US history.

Q: Why is so much Black music about violence and misogyny? I'm not racist, but I think Black culture is just more violent. Why does it seem that way?

A: Racism. Rap, trap, and drill, are only the most popular genres of Black music listened to *by white people.* The most popular among Black folk is R&B, almost 2X as popular. Violent rap is mostly for y'all.🤷🏿♂️

https://www.statista.com/statistics/945163/leading-music-genres-african-american/

#BlackMastodon

If you go to a Black hair salon, you're more likely to hear Jill Scott playing, than to hear Kodak Black.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pBYV4bMlg7g

A weird thing that I've noticed: when some of my white friends hear a Black person say that they don't listen to rap or hip hop, they assume that means that the Black person listens to "white" music.😬 They genuinely don't realize that the vast majority of Black music is not rap.

This leads to some awkward eye rolls. Usually the Black person doesn't try to explain🤷🏿♂️

Many of the white musicians making "Black" music, are attempting to cosplay what they think of as "Black culture." But they're only seeing a tiny fraction of Black culture, seen through the pinhole of a record label producing "Gangster rap" for consumption by suburban white kids. 🙂🙃

At this point, I feel the need to explain that most Black musicians don't actually have face tattoos.🤷🏿♂️

Birdman has these kids drawing all over their faces permanently.

Black rappers do this too! You'll often hear rappers claim that other gangster rappers aren't "real," or are "studio gangsters," actors performing a display of what they know white listeners expect to hear from Black people.

You'll also hear Black rappers admitting that they focus their music on the violent topics that white audiences want, and simplifying their lyrical structure, because that is what's required for commercial success in a market where most of the buyers are white suburban kids

I don't need to rehash the origins of rock and roll, blues, jazz, or techno/house music. OK, maybe house music... Where was the "house" referred to in "House music?" And who were the original House DJs? (Hint: Ask any non-racist gay American man over 40, that could really dance when they were younger).

I tell people that in about 50 years, someone will say, "You know, the original rappers were Black!" And no one will believe them. Someone will have to create a long thread about it. 🤡

US music listeners do associate Jack Harlow with "Black culture," but don't associate Adele, Snoh Aelegra, etc, with Black culture, even though the later artists go out of their way to make that association known as respectfully as they can without crossing over into appropriation.🙂🙃

Snoh Aelegra
https://youtu.be/4976Fgvf5Ps

Adele:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw

This says more about the listener and the framing allowed by our society, than it does about either the musician, or Black people.

What I do think should happen, is that music listeners should understand that what they think of as "Black music" is just a subset of Black music seen through a lense of racism.

US history is full of beauty, violence, wonder, racism, justice, evil, hope, misogyny, respect for others, more racism, collaboration, religious intolerance, and finally, even more racism. The US is a fantastic contradiction, and we rap and sing about it. You can't just take the worst parts, and call that "Black music"