Things That Matter

People On Twitter Are Dropping Real Christopher Columbus Knowledge For Indigenous Peoples Day

By October 9, 2017 at 4:12 pm
@Olivia_Graciela / Twitter

It’s Indigenous Peoples Day in some states and cities around the country, with many observers celebrating the native history and peoples of the United States. If you don’t know, the holiday has become an alternative to another national holiday known as Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus and his dark history in this country has very powerful and negative sentiment among Native Americans because of the violence, disease, genocide and mass raping inflicted on indigenous people after his arrival.

It is because of this violent history that cities like Seattle, Minneapolis and, as of just recently, Los Angeles, voted to no longer observe Columbus Day, instead choosing to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day to honor those who first called this land home. Here’s how people on Twitter are celebrating this growing holiday.

There is an outpouring of support and recognition of indigenous people today.

People are sharing images with maps to show the indigenous tribes and where they lived prior to European colonization.

Some cities, according to The Boston Herald, celebrate both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day on the same day. However, as of this year, 22 cities and counties have formally adopted Indigenous Peoples Day as a recognized holiday, including Los Angeles (city and county), Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas.

Several celebrities have thrown their voice and support behind Indigenous Peoples Day.

CREDIT: @LaurenJauregui / Twitter

“#ColumbusDay has for generations commemorated the brutal systematic murder, rape, destruction, displacement and enslavement of the Native Peoples of the Americas,” wrote Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui. “Columbus did not discover uninhabited land, he discovered tribes of humans who had been settled here for thousands of years; years of tradition, connection, culture and ancestry.”

People are giving little history lessons about Indigenous Peoples Day and how it started.

South Dakota made the decision in 1990 to make the second Monday of October Native American Day.

People are using pop culture to proclaim why they support Indigenous Peoples Day.

Even Janet from “The Good Place” gets it.

And some are just saying exactly what they think about Christopher Columbus.

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But, largely, people are showing off their indigenous heritage today.

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There are photos of Indigenous Peoples Day parades in different cities in the U.S.

Beautiful.

And others are sharing photos of their families dressed in traditional clothing over the years.

#HappyIndigenousPeoplesDay


READ: He Is An Indigenous Rapper Who Is Dropping An Album And Suing The Government To Fight Climate Change At The Same Time

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Twitter Has Busted a Ring of Fake Accounts That Posed As Black Trump Supporters

Things That Matter

Twitter Has Busted a Ring of Fake Accounts That Posed As Black Trump Supporters

By October 15, 2020 at 1:58 pm
BY  | October 15, 2020 AT 1:58 pm
Photo: George Frey/Getty Images

On Monday, Twitter announced that it has suspended 15 Twitter accounts of “Black Trump supporters” that they discovered were fake. The accounts were similar in nature, tweeting out nearly identical messages, like “YES IM BLACK AND IM VOTING FOR TRUMP!!!” and “VOTE REPUBLICAN”. The accounts quickly amassed thousands of followers and retweets.

The fake “Black Trump Supporter” accounts were discovered by social media disinformation researcher Darren Linvill, who flagged the accounts and reported them to Twitter.

The accounts violate Twitter’s rule barring users from using the platform “in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience.”

The Twitter accounts sourced their profile photos through internet image searches. One profile photo even included the search term “black man photo” at the top of the profile photo–proving that someone stole the photo from the internet and (sloppily) cropped it. Others were revealed, via reverse-image searching, to be generic stock photos of Black people.

The accounts seemed to follow a pattern: the Black Trump supporters were devout Christians, veterans, blue-collar workers, police officers…you get the picture. 

“They are impersonating Black Trump supporters, Black authoritative figures such as veterans and police officers, and various prominent individuals in order to gain rapid traction and virality,” said cybersecurity manager Lee Foster to The Washington Post.

Linvill says that the accounts don’t necessarily appear to be a coordinated campaign, although he did find traces of the Russian alphabet  in the accounts’ online records. Linvill hypothesizes that the accounts might have had monetary motives–they often tweeted out links to buy Trump merchandise. 

Another theory is that, based on the timing, whoever created the fake accounts is trying to change what appears to be the persistent narrative that President Trump is racist. The accounts became much more active in recent months, around the time when Trump refused to condemn white supremacist groups on national TV. These “Black Trump supporters” make it seem like he actually has the support of Black Americans. 

But polls and surveys prove that Trump is highly unpopular among Black Americans. The Pew Research Center shows that 81% of Black voters support Biden in the upcoming election. 

These most recent fake Twitter accounts are one of the many ways that the Republican Party has been attempting to manipulate voters this election cycle. Along with spreading disinformation, the party has set up unsanctioned ballot drop-off boxes across California. The Governor of Texas, Rick Abbott (R) also made headlines recently for restricting the amount of official ballot boxes in Texas to only one per county–a move that critics slammed as a transparent attempt to suppress the Latino vote.

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TwitterElections 2020Donald Trump

The ‘How It Started’ Memes Are Filled With The Funny And Wholesome Content We All Need In 2020

Culture

The ‘How It Started’ Memes Are Filled With The Funny And Wholesome Content We All Need In 2020

By October 13, 2020 at 2:31 pm
BY  | October 13, 2020 AT 2:31 pm
@xolei3 / Twitter

It is not a lie to say that 2020 has been a year of disappointment and high-stress scenarios. We’ve had to quarantine from a virus, wildfires are destroying a lot of land, and well, everything else going on has just made things worse. Fortunately, on Twitter trend is giving everyone a chance to see that things can get better.

Let’s face it, 2020 has been a tough year for everyone but one Twitter trend is making life a little better.

We’ve all seen the “How It Started” memes taking over social media in recent weeks. The memes are both funny and inspirational with some showing some amazing glow ups and others showing the crushing reality of everyday life. We have all felt like the man crying over 2020 at some point over the last 7 months. It’s like this year just doesn’t stop.

Relationships are a big part of this meme trend.

Oof. This is painful and so many of us know this to be true. 😭 Sure, we can all blame our relationship woes on the current state of the world. However, that would just be doing a disservice to ourselves and our love lives. Most of us who are single now have been single for a very long time pre-Covid. But, hey, no one knows that you’re lying if you blame Covid.

A few wonderful people highlighted their transition into their true selves.

Stunning. Show-stopping. Magnificent. We love to see it. There is nothing better to see in this world than someone living their authentic truth. Like, go and do your thing. Slay all of the hearts you see, honey, and take no prisoners. We are all better in their world to be surrounded by people living in complete honesty.

The Lil Nas X joined in on the fun and highlighted his own meteoric rise to fame.

The “Old Town Road” singer really did make a big name for himself. Not only did his song get made into a duet and remix with every artist imaginable, he beat Mariah Carey’s record. Lil Nas X went from someone that no one knew to unseating Mariah Carey for longest time spent at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts.

There are some very clever takes on this meme.

So, like, who else feels like they are being personally attacked by this meme? College might have been years ago but these memories linger. Tequila is just one of those things that so many of use have to learn the hard way and those lessons stick with you.

Simone Biles gave us one of the most memorable glow ups of the meme challenge.

Simone Biles is one of the most legendary women to ever walk this planet. The way she was able to make herself known around the world as the best gymnast is no short feat. She is and will always be one of the best women to represent the U.S. in the Olympics.

READ: President Trump Thinks Injecting Disinfectants Could Cure COVID-19 And The Memes Are Hilarious

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MemesfunnyComedyRelationshipsfamilyTwitter