Fake Deep Facebook : Being Woke While Being Other Things Too
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Drake released “Back to Back,” his second track in a series of Meek Mill disses. In case you’ve been living under another rock, probably located in the make believe land of Post-racial America, the body cam footage of Sam DuBose being killed by a police officer was released.
If you want to check out the details surrounding either of those stories, feel free to ask my good friend, Google.
After getting on Facebook, a decision I always seem to regret when any “Breaking News” happens, I immediately began to see the memes and statuses condemning people for talking about one of the topics over the other. This sort of thing happens so frequently on Facebook that I should be used to it, but today, it led me to post this pseudo-rant:
“Getting a little tired of the subtle "Black people aren't allowed to be in the know about two separate things at the same time" or "If you don't post about this on social media, you aren't woke" arguments. Today, I watched the Sam DuBose footage and it pissed me off. I also listened to the Back-to-Back track from Drake (more than a couple of times) and it made me laugh out loud! You can catch me watching Love and Hip Hop ATL on a Monday night, OR you might catch me watching a documentary on Netflix about Female Infanticide in India and China. I CAN DO BOTH. Thanks :)”
Sidenote: You may not be able to learn about the term “woke” with a good ol’ Google search, but that’s okay, girl! Just head over to my other acquaintance: Urban Dictionary
In the Woke community, there is a separate sect that gets a lot of side-eyes. I’d like to call that sect “Fake Deep.” Fake Deep people are woke, but self-righteous to such an extent that they’re basically sleep walking. Fake Deep people are often characterized by bad grammar, blurry (and often terrible) relationship advice memes, theories about media distractions, and most recently, posts depicting Bill Cosby as a victimized hero instead of a serial rapist.
On this particular day, the Fake Deep community had it up to HERE with folks posting about Drake and Meek Mill. And on this particular day, I’d had it up to HERE with Fake Deep people thinking we’re so simple-minded, that we’re unable to have an opinion on more than one matter. It’s hard being Black today. Hashtags with the name of another dead black person killed by law enforcement are becoming all too familiar and undoubtedly hard to ignore. However, it’s important to recognize that the Black experience is not just one thing for all Black people. Just as limitless as the complexions of our skin and the textures of our hair, our experiences as Black people are endless. It’s impossible to rate someone’s Blackness on whether or not they think, feel, or speak like you.
To be clear, I am a Black girl and I consider myself Black before anything else. In addition to being Black and caring about things that directly affect the Black community, I care about a lot of other things, too! It is quite possible for me to indulge in ratchet television and music and still be educated on the “real” issues at hand. While it is certainly beneficial to bring attention to Black issues that aren’t getting the mainstream media coverage they deserve, it is unnecessary to criticize people for not making a passionate post about said issues. Just because someone doesn’t post about it, doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care about it.
Since people are into lists these days, here is a list of 10 things I cared about on the day Drake dropped “Back to Back” and the body cam footage of Sam DuBose was released.
Where is my iPhone charger?
If I drink this coffee right now, will I have trouble sleeping tonight?
Will I ever beat this level on Two Dots?
What’s for breakfast?
What’s for lunch?
What’s for dinner?
When is Frank Ocean releasing his album?
When will Blue Bell be safe to eat again?
When is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale over?
I should really wash my hair
See? I did all that and still managed to be a Black girl today. Incredible.
