Opinion | Keyona Porshaa`
It's unusual to not have any new challenges or dance routines circulating the internet's timelines yet, for one of culture's hottest girls Megan Thee Stallion’s newest song, however, Black creators are at the epicenter of creation and they are choosing to sit this one out. Over this past weekend, Black Tik Tok creators have decided to stand together in protest again and against not being accredited for dances and challenges that garner thousands if not millions of views by going viral.
Tik Tok is a social media app created for users to share videos for anything from dance to comedy to education creatively. Commonly we see numerous videos of users repurposing popular songs or soundbites, some of which we aren’t very familiar with until we hear them repeatedly paired with catchy dance moves and dance challenges. In that fashion, the app is breeding grounds for viral videos and a platform that if the users love it, an artist's new song can go from unknown to on the charts. What arises with the videos’ views and reposts is also the question, who is the original creator of the dance? Or in Black creators' cases, it's not and here Houston--we have a problem. In our world that is driven in part by social media, the likelihood of your life changing, getting to go places or working with people you’ve only dreamed of from creating a video where you may have just been expressing yourself not only proves how much of an integral influence they have but shows how very possible impossible can be.
Generation Z’ers may be young but they are taking matters of reparations into their own hands by staging yet another protest against the Tik Tok community. After noticing that White creators seem to be struggling with coming up with a catchy dance on their own, popular Black Tik Tok creator Erick Louis, started to share his choreography featuring the new song but decided against moves and went with captioning, “this app would be nothing without black people.” History for Black creatives in general and now on the app finds its niche in telling its story omitting the names of creators who contribute greatly and backed by strapping Black Twitter these users are leading the charge to change that one video tag at a time.
In the past, hardly anyone could get the words “renegade” off repeat in their heads and it was because of dance students Jalaiah Harmon and Kaliyah Davis’ viral dance. The teenage pair collaborated through video on the choreography created by Harmon to the song “Lottery” by rapper K Camp last summer but they were not immediately credited for their moves. White Tik Toker Charli D’Amelio captured viral credit, millions of followers and was named “CEO” and “queen of Tik Tok,” for the video. Later The New York Times discovered that Harmon was the true originator and profiled her but by then for her the virality had passed and the opportunities had amassed for D’Amelio as she was invited to perform another appropriated dance routine from another Black creator at an NBA All Star game.
The Black users on Tik Tok have been very vocal about their expectations of the app and their creative freedom. When users felt their voices were being muted and their expressive videos regarding Black Lives Matter were being suppressed they posed a black out on the app. Tik Tok has taken accountability for its position as an outlet for Black creators and not only welcomes the diversity of creation, but they are also working to make sure that creators are cited for their work. A spokesperson from Tik Tok tells the Guardian, “they are working to create a supportive environment for our community while also instilling a culture where honoring and crediting creatives for their creative contributions is the norm.”
However, the final straw in this long bout of pushing for recognition came just a few months ago in March, after Jimmy Fallon hosted a popular Tik Tok creator Addison Rae on his Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. Rae was invited to teach Fallon the dance moves to eight dances that she did not create nor did she mention the creators on his stage. Once news made it to Twitter users, they responded with a barrage of appropriation claims. Fallon quickly corrected his misaim of not inviting the original creator and requested the dancers virtually to perform their choreography.
Both Tik Tok and its White creators share a responsibility to uphold the integrity of creative ownership to Black creators or anyone for that matter. Black Tik Tokers want everyone to enjoy their contributions but as the strike still stands they are not appeased with retroactive citing especially when they understand their role proximal to popular culture.
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