Diversify Your Feed
I get weird ads on every platform. The algorithm has no idea who I am, and I’m convinced it’s because I have a pretty diverse feed. I could go into how messed up this is, that the ad overlords think you will only want to see people who are just like you, but 1) I don’t really have the data or know-how to unpack all that, and 2) My real point here is that you should follow people who aren’t like you. You will become more compassionate, understand different perspectives, and, if those things don’t matter to you (unpack THAT), you can at least have the thrill of completely confusing the ad algorithm. I frequently get ads solely in Spanish, ads for natural hair care, ads for plus size fashion, and ads for arguably neutral stuff like dish soap or deodorant, but featuring exclusively WOC. (I am a straight size, English speaking, white woman). Here are some of my favorite follows across various platforms.
Instagram!
You Look Okay To Me is an account run by Jameisha Prescod about chronic illness. She has a lovely English accent and posts videos covering different aspects of chronic illness each week. This account is also a great resource for finding other accounts, if you’re interested in going down a rabbit hole of great content.
Hill House Vintage, the account run by the extremely fashionable Paula Sutton, is a great follow if you love looking at beautifully styled English country homes, along with vintage fashion and an adorable dog. She’s perfected the signature move of flaring out her skirt right before the photo is taken, so you get to see the glory of her outfit while she manages to look stylishly carefree. Also I would like to live in this outfit, in this setting, with this dog, forever please.
Over the past year or so I’ve realized that I love exercise (truly, a shocking revelation) and I’ve been trying to find fitness accounts that aren’t focused on changing physical appearances. This is surprisingly hard when any internet searches for fitness lead to all kinds of horrible ads about diets and losing belly fat and the like. I found some great resources in this list, which is so extensive I haven’t even gone through them all yet, but I have started following Decolonizing Fitness, Mirna Valerio, and Women’s Strength Coalition, which are helping me remember that there is room in the exercise space for every body.
YouTube!
I don’t follow many accounts on YouTube, I guess because I’m not a tween and it’s often Too Much Content for me to process. (Although YouTube is where I watch my favorite show, Technique Critique). HOWEVER! I do have a few content creators I have found and love.
I am neither married nor a mother, but I love Jia from Marriage & Motherhood. She’s a mother of two in the Atlanta area, and I started following her because I love a grocery shop with me video. I would have never thought that there was such a thing as being great at pointing, but Jia is great at pointing. A lot of her Costco shop videos are from her perspective, so you just see the product and her finger pointing and it’s… captivating? I can’t explain it. Go binge watch ten of her Costco videos and I think you’ll be as obsessed with her pointing skills as I am. She also does cleaning videos (another fave of mine) and a lot of videos about personal finance. (Fair warning, she has a number of diet videos, but they’re pretty easy to avoid and diet talk doesn’t often spill into her other videos.)
Jackie Aina is a huge beauty YouTuber, but she may not be on your radar if you’re only watching beauty gurus who match your own lily white complexion. How will you know what brands are inclusive if you aren’t watching the people who demand inclusivity? I’m the palest person I have ever met, and I know I never check what other shades a brand has! I go to the lightest option and look no further, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you what is needed for a darker shade range. So I listen to other people. Jackie Aina is incredibly charismatic, entertaining, and she isn’t afraid to call out brands who aren’t doing the work to be more inclusive. If you follow beauty YouTubers and don’t follow Jackie? Fix it now.
I also recommend Nyma Tang’s videos, particularly her series where she tries the darkest foundation shade offered by a brand. When you’re on the complete other end of the color spectrum, you need someone to tell you what it’s like on the other, often ignored, side. Watching Nyma Tang try on the darkest possible shade and show how it is not remotely as inclusive as the brand claims is a real eye opener, and she’s clearly laying out what brands need to do better so that YOU can choose to support brands that support all skintones.
Podcasts!
I’ve been a regular podcast listener for almost 15 years, and I see no signs of stopping. If I’m cleaning or cooking or walking, I’m also catching up with my favorite podcasts. Here are a few I love that feature Black creators
Justice in America
I’ve written about Justice in America already, but this is a great podcast to listen to if you’re interested in the criminal justice system in America (psst, you should be interested). It’s really accessible, so if you want to learn but you’re truly starting from zero, this is a great way to learn.
She’s All Fat
In the early seasons of She’s All Fat, April K. Quioh is a cohost along with Sophie Carter-Kahn. April went on to fulfill her dream of being a TV writer, but she still checks in occasionally. They had a great segment called, “It’s OK, You Can Ask” where each host took turns asking cultural, racial questions of the other host. It’s been years, and I still regularly laugh out loud when I remember the time April asked Sophie if she knew who B2K is and Sophie goes, “The serial killer?” I think about it like, twice a month. Just by typing that I’m now weeping with laughter.
Thirst Aid Kit
It’s a podcast about being a sophisticated horndog, what more could you want?
Honorable Mention: American Girls
Both the hosts of American Girls are white women, but they recently covered the Addy books and did a good job of recognizing their own positions of privilege and brought in multiple black women to talk about the effect Addy had on them. They also discussed slavery, enslaved people, and the depiction of both in children’s literature, AND they made syllabus so that their audience could learn even more. If you are white and want to know how to address racism and racist history without centering your own experience, this series is a good listen.
