#AmplifyMelanatedVoices, a hashtag that is trending on social media thanks to Jessica Wilson and Alishia McCullough, encourages people to “mute the white noise” as a way to amplify melanated voices. Influencers and other Instagram users were encouraged to not post their usual content, and instead to share and amplify the content of Black folks.
Voices often hidden by the algorithm, or not as visual on everyone’s timelines, this Instagram challenge gave space for reflection on consumption and community. We participated in that challenge. Instead of spending time posting our usual content, I spent the week learning, reading, and becoming familiar with accounts that likely wouldn’t have appeared in my feed otherwise.
I want to use this space to continue amplifying these voices, and share some of the accounts I’ve engaged with recently and will continue to engage with.
Instagram Accounts We Follow & Engage With
Jessica Wilson (@jessicawilson.msrd)
One half of the #AmplifyMelanatedVoices movement, Jessica is a dietician, who focuses on her work on changing the narrative of food consumption, bodies, and body liberation. Making space for those with different bodies (and by different, I mean different than the White Western beauty and medical standards), Jessica uses her space to educate and lift up.
Alishia McCullough (@blackandembodied)
The other half of the #AmplifyMelanatedVoices movement, Alishia is a mental health therapist who focuses her work and Instagram page on educating from a trauma-informed lens. In her bio, she has links to her different pieces of work.
Dr. Shree Walker (@resilientwalker)
We are so fortunate that Shree shared her story with us a few weeks back. Shree is using her voice to amplify stories of resilience as a way to work through pain and conquer life after the pain was caused.
Layla Saad (@laylafsaad)
This is a name you will see a lot over the next few weeks as I work through her book Me and White Supremacy. In addition to being an author, Layla hosts the “Good Ancestors Podcast” (which I haven’t listened to yet, and plan to start this week). Layla went viral a few years ago for a letter she wrote and continues to challenge white folks to confront the system of white supremacy, in which they live, me included.
Rachel Cargle (@rachel.cargle)
A writer and a storyteller, Rachel Cargle uses her platform to educate her followers on ways to stand up against racial injustice. Also, the creator of @thegreatunlearn, something I’m appreciating about Rachel is her ability to break down and explain why we need to stop living in a system of white supremacy. She’s written templates for holding employers and academic institutions accountable and has been interviewed on various podcasts to use her voice. In her bio, she has a link that directs you to these interviews.
Who else should we follow? Leave us a comment and let us know.
Written by Alana Kaplan, Project Manager for the I Am Resilient Project.