Social media is not a tool for unlearning anti-blackness. There is no meaningful engagement, personal reflection or life application done between reading an infographic and sharing it to your story. But the app is still good for a handful of things like boosting mutual aid campaigns and the ability for Black people to build their own platforms.
Social media and its low-access barrier is an opportunity to expand your perspective. It provides direct ways to support and uplift Black artists and creators who would normally be excluded from their industry. Through Instagram, Black business and Black creators are getting more attention now than they ever have—and they deserve it. Just because you only see white bodies in art museums and only read white writers in school doesn’t mean your personal engagement needs to be so narrow in scope.
A simple follow, like or story share means a lot to people the algorithm doesn’t favor. It’s so easy to do and it expands your worldview in the process. As a Black artist trying to use social to find an artistic community during these times, I’ve gone out of my way to find as many Black creators as possible to follow. Some have bigger platforms and get commissioned by well-known companies while others are just people sharing the art they make in their bedrooms.
I’ve put together a list of these creators so that more people can purposefully widen their scope and so that Black artists can continue gaining the attention and support they deserve.
BLACK ARTISTS AND CREATORS TO FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM: A SUPER LONG LIST
Smaller Followings:
@aislinn.art
@ajanicreates
@always.underwater
@angryaangel
@anyapaintsil
@ashdujour
@blackandjoyful
@b13ss1ng
@catherinem.a
@cowgirlcandicesart
@e4rthchild
@fatherjawsh
@joliebrownell
@kae_elms
@kailuvv
@kikesaaa
@kthru.12
@livingartdisplay
@lofij333
@marsinterlude
@miayaisnotmyname
@niaanntart
@niggawitagrape
@n.yallah
@nzuridraws
@pandagwad
@sacralrise
@sickandtiredblackartist
@smithleyville
@softcntered
@soulkianna
@soulkitti
@tanyanwilson
@tiara.francois
@trash.ketchumm
@valkammeron
Bigger Followings:
@alanahunta
@artbybrix3
@arthoecollective
@ayy.bee
@barryyusufu
@blackartistspace
@cliffordprinceking
@cosmocouch
@curtia
@danascruggs
@denzelgolatt
@duendita
@erezyn
@exquisite_eye
@ggggrimes
@giannilee
@idealblackfemale
@jayversay
@johnmadu_art
@kieraplease
@lilblackgoat
@loharrisart
@monicagreatgal
@mrcheyl
@mythsooka
@renellaice
@rociomarie_
@sageaflocka
@shakka.d.badmon
@shoplhp
@supportblackart
@tylersphotos
@venusroots
@viteloi
@730t
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