Blackfamous

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sweetmeat @sugartraffic It never even occured to me that white folks don't know who so many of these people are... THIS THREAD IS SO IMPORTANT! michaelharriot O @michaelharriot · Dec 13 "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. So l ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 8:06 AM · Dec 14, 2019 · Twitter for iPhone

Wolves Of Saturn @avantgardeblues I had no idea Frankie Beverly was black folk best kept secret until this thread. Now we can't be mad if we go in Starbucks and hear Joy and Pain playing. @michaelharriot · Dec 13 michaelharriot "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. So l ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 8:28 AM · Dec 14, 2019 · Twitter for iPhone

Chass @chassity_maxx So since y'all don't know who Frankie Beverly is... does this mean y'all thought Beyoncé's cover was an origin- GIF 3:22 AM · Dec 14, 2019 · Twitter for iPhone

Amy DuBois Barnett @amydbarnett LisaRaye McCoy @michaelharriot · Dec 13 michaelharriot "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. So l ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 12:13 AM · Dec 14, 2019 · Twitter for iPhone

Jolly St. Niggalaus @CyCl4ne Keenan Ivory Wayans has been loudly doing his thang in Hollywood for over 30 years with his entire family, and no one but Black people ever talk about it... BLALKIMAU TUME GIF "Message." @michaelharriot · Dec 13 michaelharriot "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. So l ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 7:58 AM · Dec 14, 2019 · Twitter for Android

Tiffany Cross @TiffanyDCross WEB DuBois? James Baldwin? Curtis Mayfield? Robin Harris? And yes, Frankie Beverly. If you want to go with the obvious @michaelharriot · Dec 13 michaelharriot c "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. So l ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 8:32 AM · Dec 14, 2019 · Twitter for iPad

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About

Blackfamous is a slang term for a person or piece of media that is mostly popular among black people while remaining relatively anonymous among white people. The term was popularized by a tweet from The Root writer Michael Harriot and inspired a trend on Twitter in which people offered things which would fit the description.

Origin

On December 13th, 2019 Twitter user and writer Michael Harriot^[1] posted a tweet that read, "“Blackfamous” is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the “blackfamous” scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. So I ask: Who is the most “blackfamous” person of all time?" The tweet gained over 6,500 retweets and 28,000 likes (shown below).

michaelharriot @michaelharriot "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. Sol ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 10:47 PM · Dec 13, 2019 · Twitterrific for iOS

Spread

The tweet inspired users to tweet celebrities who fit the criteria. Some popular tweets include a tweet by @kidnoble^[2] who tweeted Robert Townsend. Leon. Clifton Powell. Jason Weaver. Keith David. I could do this all day," gaining over 720 retweets and 3,700 points (shown below, left). Rapper Black Milk^[3] tweeted, "John P. Kee," gaining over 200 retweets and 1,600 likes (shown below, right).

Spinninnanight O @kidnoble Robert Townsend. Leon. Clifton Powell. Jason Weaver. Keith David. I could do this all day. @michaelharriot · Dec 13 michaelharriot "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown by EVERY white person. So l ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 12:48 AM Dec 14, 2019 Twitter for iPhone

Black Milk @black_milk - John P. Kee @michaelharriot · Dec 13 michaelharriot "Blackfamous" is the gap between black stardom and white anonymity. For instance: The highest possible rating on the "blackfamous" scale would be someone EVERY black person knew but was unknown EVERY white person. So l ask: Who is the most "blackfamous" person of all time? 12:11 AM · Dec 14, 2019 · Twitter for iPhone

R&B singer John Legend^[4] joined in on the thread to add that he discovered the Stevie Wonder song "Ribbon In The Sky" would be considered "blackfamous" after Wonder played the song at his wedding (shown below, left). One of the most popular celebrities mentioned was singer Frankie Beverly. For example, Twitter user @jamilarobinson^[5] told a story about a white DJ not knowing the singer, gaining over 150 retweets and 900 likes (shown below, right). The moment was covered by Twitter Events^[6] and Buzzfeed.^[7]