So, I did a thing: Wired Magazine

September issue of Wired Magazine

You know, if you have been reading anything I have written, you know I am pretty outspoken when it comes to racism, bigotry, colorism, and the like. Especially on TikTok, where I have not only vented my feelings on racism but also my feelings on the lack of a concerted response by TikTok on the racism Black creators have been and continue to face on their platform.

Well, it finally caught up with me.

Writer Jason Parham, reached out a few months ago to ask me my opinion and experience on the platform for a piece he was working on. That piece became the cover story of this month's Wired Magazine.

So, I gave Jason the TEA. First, we talked about one of the trends on the app I found most troubling, the "Hot Cheeto Girl":

"For Whitney Roberts, a 35-year-old writer and podcast host in Philly, trends like the Hot Cheeto Girl have a troubling history that exemplify just one way already marginalized people are subtly debased on the app. “There were little white girls slicking their edges and drawing their eyebrows all weird,” Roberts says. “They would wrap tape around their fingers to be their fake nails. They'd put hoops on. When you call them out, it's, ‘Anyone of any race can be a Hot Cheeto Girl.’ No sweetheart, we know what you're doing. We know that the Hot Cheeto Girl is just a derivative of the ghetto girl, the hoodrat, the Shanaynay that people used to call Black and Latinx women.”"

Photograph by Jessica Pettiway

Later, I shared my experience on TikTok, which, to be honest, has not been great.  

"“People were leaving monkey emoji in my comments over a video where I was talking about clothes, something frivolous and funny. In another video, I was just talking about 4c hair, about a different grade of hair, and why people shouldn't necessarily diminish it. That got taken down. But there are whole blackface videos that won't get taken down.”"

I have been punished more for just talking about being Black than many of the racists on the platform. I have been shadowbanned, had videos removed, my sounds removed, had videos sit in "review" for weeks, and so on, all with no explaination. None. Worse, when I reached out to the platform about any of these incidents at their "help" and "support" prompts, I am met with more radio silence. 

So much for professionalism.

The reason why I stay on the app? My community. Their support, discussions and passion is why I stay. I am proud of us, proud of the work we have done, proud of our discussions and growth. 

Anywho, thank you to Jason Parham and Wired Magazine for featuring me in this story. Needless I have to grab a few copies, for me and for my mama and 'nem!