BLACK TIKTOK IS ON STRIKE!
DENIZ AKKAYA
Ever since Meghan Thee Stallion’s single “Thot Shit” came out, we’ve all been missing something: a TikTok dance.
Every song Meghan has released throughout her career has achieved tremendous success thanks to the dances on the platform. But this time things are a little different.
Following the release of the single Thot Shit, many black TikTok creators decided not to create a choreography for the hit song. The reason is simple: TikTok would never have gotten to where it is today without black creators, and the time to profit from them is over. This ‘strike’ on TikTok is a common reaction to the pain and exhaustion many black creators feel at seeing their work stolen, used, and appropriated over and over again.
The best example of this would be Addison Rae. Reaching incredible fame in a short time with her dance TikToks, Addison became famous for repeating dances that were originally choreographed by black creators. One of the events that ignited this movement was the fact that Addison, who recently made an appearence in the Tonight Show, did not mention the original creators of the TikTok dances she performed in the program.
The TikTok strike began on Saturday when a creator named Erick Louis (@theericklouis) posted a video of him pretending to dance to the song “Thot Shit”. But in the video, just when we thought Erick was going to dance, the words: “Sike. This app would be nothing without black people.”
And the song that coincides with the strike doesn’t actually seem so coincidental. Thot Shit, besides being a banger, salutes the essential workers who has been working nonstop for all of us, risking their lives during the pandemic, and harshly criticizes the rule of wealthy white people who recklessly exploit the labor of the working class.
Louis’ video made other black creators realize their power and soon turned into a big movement. The problem is deeper than white creators not giving credit to black creators. Since TikTok became popular in 2019, the platform’s “For You” page algorithm has faced accusations of racism, and the biggest stars have been accused of appropriating black culture through trends.
The continued disregard for black creativity has led white people to appropriate black culture, making them popular in practice and achieving fame that the original creator could not. It’s anti-black, it’s wrong, and the time for change is long overdue.
For black creators who are tired of seeing their work get appropriated, collectively refusing to gift the world a new TikTok dance is definitely a very impressive way to show how vital they are to the online ecosystem!
