Instagram Launches #ShareBlackStories Campaign to Celebrate Black History Month

Char Adams
Updated
Instagram Launches #ShareBlackStories Campaign to Celebrate Black History Month

Instagram’s latest campaign is a picture-perfect way to celebrate Black culture.

The photo-sharing app is honoring Black History Month with #ShareBlackStories, its month-long initiative to feature Black art and creations while encouraging social media users everywhere to use effects, filters, and the hashtag to participate in the celebration.

“You can #ShareBlackStories by using new creative tools, conceptualized by Black voices at Instagram, including camera effects inspired by the rich cultural history of telling stories through African mud cloth patterns,” officials wrote in a statement.

The company will even use its own Instagram account (@Instagram) to join in on the fun, sharing short films on its IGTV channel beginning on Feb. 19 and highlighting the work of creators like Uzumaki Cepeda,Tawny Chatmon, and Paola “Pao Pao” Mathé.

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To honor the black community on Instagram and celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth, we’re kicking off a new series: #ShareBlackStories. This month and beyond, follow along and share your unique perspective using the hashtag. For artist Tawny Chatmon (@tawnychatmon), #ShareBlackStories, and Black History Month in general, is “not about having other people validate us. It’s about us celebrating ourselves — celebrating ourselves and creating that work that we want to be in this world.” Tawny creates compelling images by fusing together black history and art history — sometimes quite literally. For one of her series, “Deeply Embedded,” she took portraits of young girls and placed images of African women from the U.S. National Archives in their hair. “If you see work like this with black faces, it’s going to have some effect on you,” says Tawny, who lives outside of Washington, DC. The inspiration for these photo collages came after Tawny read about the real-life stories of children who were sent home from school because of their hairstyles and their natural hair. “It became personal,” Tawny explains. “I have three kids. So I just started feeling like, these are my kids. They are my responsibility.” Today on our story, we visit Tawny’s studio to see more of her powerful portraits. Photo by @tawnychatmon

A post shared by Instagram (@instagram) on Feb 4, 2019 at 2:36pm PST

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Instagram is just the latest company to take part in the national, month-long holiday.

Snapchat recently launched a virtual art gallery filled with works from young Black artists, according to AdWeek. Artists include Gianni Lee, Bianca Pastel, Jessica Spence, and Paracosm.

Snapchat officials have called it the first-ever augmented reality museum dedicated to young Black artists, AdWeek reported.

Meanwhile, Lyft has vowed to provide a free ride (up to $10) to a local cultural site that celebrates Black history and culture, officials announced last week.

“At Lyft, we believe in recognizing, celebrating, and supporting the contributions of incredible Black women and men throughout history and within our communities today,” the statement reads.