#BlackoutDay is a social media campaign to celebrate Black history and the beauty of Black people.
People who identify as Black, (including people from Africa or from the African diaspora and mixed-race or part-Black people) are encouraged to post photos of themselves on social media with the hashtags #TheBlackout, #Blackoutday and/or #Blackout, according to the group’s tumblr.
The first Blackout occurred on March 6, 2015 and it was repeated on April 3, June 21, Sept. 21 and Dec. 21 that year. In 2016, organizers decided to hold the 24-hour online event every three months on the 6th of the month — March 6, June 6, Sept. 6 and Dec. 6.
The concept was started by Marissa Rei (formerly known as blkoutqueen, now @marissarei), who has since taken on leadership of the movement; T’von (expect-the-greatest) who contributed the original selfie day idea; and nukirk, the curator behind the blog whatwhiteswillneverknow, who promotes the events on social media, according group’s tumblr. The movement’s FAQ page says the founders were inspired to create #BlackOutDay because of “the lack of representation and celebration of everyday Black people in mainstream spaces such as movies and television, and the need to create a positive space in which Black people could feel welcomed and beautiful.”
