Black Twitter: A People's History
A docuseries documenting Black Twitter's cultural and political impact.
Black Twitter: A People's History is a 2024 documentary film series that examines the influence of the Black community on American society and politics since the Obama administration. The three-part docuseries, based on a 2021 Wired story and directed by Prentice Penny, chronicles how Black people used Twitter as a means of expression to comment on everyday life, covering topics from Black Lives Matter to the Crying Jordan meme. It premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2024 and debuted on Hulu on May 9, 2024.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Docuseries
- Showrunner
- Joie Jacoby
- Writer
- Jason Parham
- Director
- Prentice Penny
- Episodes
- 3
- Company
- A Penny for Your Thoughts
- WIRED Studios
- Onyx Collective
- Network
- Hulu
Facts from the source article.
Development
Prentice Penny took on the project after finishing the scripted show Insecure, seeking a creative challenge. He stated that documenting Black history was important, and that making the docuseries with Onyx Collective showed him the power was always in the community, not the platform. Penny expressed anticipation for the public response on May 9.
Reception
Initial reactions to the series announcement and teaser on March 8, 2024, were negative within Black Twitter, with some viewing it as an exploitation of a sacred subculture by big media. The series has been described as an archive that reminds viewers of their power to demand change, while also being challenging to relive yet complemented by humorous Black discourse. Rendy Jones of RogerEbert.com called it a surface-level crash course that breezes through topics deserving deeper conversation. James Poniewozik of The New York Times wrote that it is an engagingly specific snapshot of the Twitter era and its overlapping social period, a time that was serious even when silly.
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