By: Alex Robinson (’19), Staff Writer
As we prepare to bring another Black History Month to a close, Black Ink saw fit that we pay some homage to all the wins and not-quite-wins (because we’re not claiming anymore L’s on this side) that our rich community has experienced over the last year. This is your Blackity Black 2018 in Review. Enjoy.
January 3, 2018: Grown·ish premieres.
Culturally, the year started off with a bang. Grown·ish premiered, blew up, and was renewed for a second season- all within the same month. After years of watching us watch A Different World over and over again, TV networks got hip and decided to give us what it seemed we wanted: a show centered on the black college student experience. Now, does Grown·ish do this as effectively as it could? Eh. But it still serves as evidence of our influence, and Yara’s hair stays laaaaiiiddd, so I’d count that as a win for the black community.
February 16, 2018: Black Panther is released.
2018 was as long as five years in one, so it’s easy to forget the level of impact that it had, but y’all. This one right here? Changed the game. Entire church congregations were organizing field trips to go see it, movie theatres were sold out for weeks, and everybody, even praying-grandmothers, invested in dashikis JUST to flex in the cinema lobby. #WakandaForever was short-lived, because by March self-appointed gatekeepers decided that it was played out, but it is impossible to deny the impact it had. Definitely the kind of cultural “W” we’ll be telling our grandchildren about.
March 4, 2018: #OscarsSoWhite Impact Starts to Solidify
2018 marked three years since the #OscarsSoWhite movement effectively snatched the Academy into formation over their lack of diversity. In response to the backlash, the Academy partially got their act together and integrated almost 800 new members, 39% female and 30% non-white, into its voting body and it showed in this year’s nominations. Octavia Spencer, Mary J. Blige, Daniel Kaluya, and Denzel Washington were all nominated in the acting categories, and Jordan Peele became the first black writer to win for Original Screenplay.
April 14, 2018: Beyoncé becomes the first black woman to headline Coachella.
Time and time again, Beyoncé has shown that she is the greatest performer alive and there are over 20 years worth of receipts proving it. So, I mean it when I say that she did not have to do what she did with her Coachella performance. Nothing more needed to be proven or said. But she did, and you know what? She did that for us. It was a 26 song, two-hour-long celebration of blackness. Bey threw majorette stands to Diva, reunited Destiny’s Child, held a dance-off with Solange, and reminded the world that black women oughta own stock in the color mustard. Nothing short of historic.
May 19: Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry
So now, the UK has a black princess. And a fairly dope one at that; Meghan has an extensive Hollywood resume, a coat collection that would rival Olivia Pope’s, and keeps a fresh blowout. Even though it’s slightly disheartening that we still have “first black ______” to check off of our lists, there is something mildly comforting about imagining jars of edge control on bathroom counters in Kensington Palace.
June 16, 2018: Everything is Love drops.
I know that I already included Beyoncé on this list, but hey, there’s no cap on her excellence, so why should I cap how many times I celebrate it? Bey rapped better than half your faves (see, Apesh*t) and had us holding photo shoots in art museums and investing in pastel colored suits. Oh, and her husband did well, too. I guess.
July 2018: In My Feelings
#AlexSZN aside, July didn’t produce quite as many #BlackExcellence moments as the months before it, but it did give us the In My Feelings challenge. Every year births its own viral dance sensation and that was 2018’s. The dance spread near and far: at parties, at bars; shoot, even hopping out of cars. Not gon lie, I still can’t listen to the song to this day just because of how oversaturated it was on my timeline, but I definitely respect the impact.
August 31: Aretha Franklin’s Funeral
Sadly, the Queen of Soul went on to glory this year, but she was given the Black Churchiest homegoing service on this side of the Civil Rights Movement. The funeral was so long that it spanned over the duration of an entire workday; the live stream was on when people clocked into work and when they clocked out. There were definitely hiccups (see, that trash sermon), but it was still an EVENT. That many wigs, strings of pearls, and peppermints have not been seen under the same roof since Obama got elected. And those performances? Fantasia took off her heels as soon she touched the stage because the Spirit was jumpin’ like Jordan in that church.
September 12, 2018: Cardi B and Nicki Minaj beef at Fashion Week
Cardi B and Nicki Minaj clashed at New York Fashion Week and it culminated in Cardi throwing one of her bajillion dollar “bloody shoes” at Nicki. After the event, Twitter was filled to the brim with people proclaiming death over her career because Cardi had the audacity to be about what she rapped. However, Cardi’s career has done nothing but soar since, proving that authenticity holds much more value than respectability politics.
October 11, 2018: Kanye visits Donald Trump at the White House.
Even though this puts us at the risk of giving this even more attention than it deserves, I had to include this because it serves as proof that all skinfolks are not your kinfolks. Period.
November 8, 2018: Democrats take back the House of Representatives.
The state of our country’s political system is so dismal that I bet Moses and Gabriel sit on Heaven’s porch and click their teeth at us, but this November was a bright spot. At least 468 black women ran for office this year, and now, for the first time in history, there are over 20 black women in Congress. This year marked fifty years since Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress and newly elected representatives such as Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar continues her legacy.
December 20, 2018: They go low, but Michelle Obama steps high.
Our Auntie Chelle showed us how to step on the Devil’s neck in style when she rocked those iconic gold sequin Balenciaga boots on her book tour. After eight years of wearing those Easter Sunday dresses the White House made her wear, Mrs. Obama had to remind us that you can do what you want when you’re popping. And she is popping because even though Becoming, Michelle’s memoir, was released during the last month of the year it still became the best selling book of 2018.
