Black Lives Matter protester (Fibonacci Blue/Flickr)
Black Lives Matter’s new app proclaiming no Black person is safe in America is flipping the Facebook Safety Check tool on its head. Rather than updating your Facebook status to “safe” during a natural disaster or another threatening event, the “Unsafety Check” gives Black Americans the opportunity to make a statement on the dangers posed to Black lives.
Available on MarkYourselfUnsafe.com, Mic reported the “Unsafety Check” uses “Facebook Connect,” a one-time sign-on service that allows users to communicate on other websites using the social media site. Alternatively, it also utilizes the Twitter API if users would rather use that social media service to log in. Through that application, the “Unsafety Check” will request permission to post onto the user’s pages. If granted, the user will choose one of the following options to tell their friends or followers: “I’m not Black, but I support Black lives,” meant for those who align themselves with Black people or “I’m unsafe,” for all Black people.
The action of marking yourself unsafe as a Black person is meant to symbolically amplify the importance of Black lives that are continually threatened by police brutality and poisoned water sources as noted on the “Unsafety Check” website. The app notes that it should not serve as a replacement for calling local authorities in the case of an emergency.
Screen shot marking self “unsafe” as Black person in America (MarkYourselfUnsafe.com)
Screen shot marking support for Black people’s right to feel safe in America (MarkYourselfUnsafe.com)
“From slavery to Jim Crow to prejudicial and deadly policing, America has never been a safe place for Black people,” BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors said in a statement to Mic. “We need to take action to continue to raise awareness about how racism impacts our families and communities.
“We know that social media is only one way to take action on behalf of the Movement for Black Lives,” Cullors continued. “After marking yourself unsafe, we ask that people take additional action by joining local organizers in demanding justice in the streets.”
