Utah Royals FC, Real Salt Lake Joins ‘Blackout Tuesday’ Social Media Movement
Jun 2, 2020, 11:57 AM
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs and Utah Royals FC participated in the “Blackout Tuesday” social media campaign in support of the fight against racial injustice.
Blackout Tuesday is a movement created to amplify the voices of black people on social media. The premise is to “mute” personal content and in place of it share content from black creators.
You can learn more about the movement below.
Real Salt Lake
We see you, we hear you, we stand with you. #blackouttuesday pic.twitter.com/ZSyoi7Hjrj
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 2, 2020
Utah Royals FC
We see you, we hear you, we stand with you. #blackouttuesday pic.twitter.com/Rz6RE6w6du
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) June 2, 2020
Real Monarchs
We see you, we hear you, we stand with you. #blackouttuesday pic.twitter.com/wZKr62gBgT
— Real Monarchs (@RealMonarchs) June 2, 2020
All clubs posted to social media with the caption “We see you, we hear you, we stand with you.”
Blackout Tuesday
Blackout Tuesday, a movement focused on amplifying the voices of people of color, began in the music industry with Atlantic Records and is spreading across all platforms of social media. Users are posting a black square to their profile, using #blackouttuesday. Organizers and creators are reminding people not to use #blacklivesmatter, as that hashtag is reserved to share information regarding the movement.
The death of George Floyd and the nationwide protests spurred the movement. Floyd was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a Minnesota police officer. The officer – who has now been fired and arrested – held his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes on May 25, 2020. The officer involved has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
The movement was started by record executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agymang, according to Variety magazine. The movement was originally created using #TheShowMustBePause, but evolved into #blackouttuesday.
“Tuesday, June 2 is meant to intentionally disrupt the work week,” they wrote, “The music industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. And industry that has profited predominantly from Black art. Our mission is to hold the industry at large, including major corporations + their partners who benefit from the efforts, struggles and successes of Black people accountable.”
NBC News contributor and activist, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, posted guidelines to follow for those participating. She guided black people to continue posting while non-black people are encouraged to “mute” but to continue sharing content from people of color.