Masquerading Blackness Online
Journalist Morgan Jerkins unpacks the ways that Black identity is constructed online, how it can be coopted, and the implications for Black people’s experiences, on- and off-line.
On the second episode of my season-long exploration of the future of Blackness, I speak with author and journalist Morgan Jerkins about the construction of Black identity on the internet. Jerkins, whose writing has been published in The New Yorker, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, ELLE, Vogue, and The Atlantic, is fascinated by the many dynamics that shape contemporary identity, including technology. In our conversation, we discuss the ways that various agents use the internet to co-opt Blackness for political gain, how it’s becoming harder and harder to verify Black identity online, and the implications for Black people’s experiences, on- and off-line.
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