Welcome back to This Week in Black Twitter, your weekly digest of the happenings on Black Twitter and cultural conversations on the web. Topics will span the gamut — with pop culture, politics, sports, lifestyles and everything in between. This week: #TheSimones dominate the 2016 Olympics, remembering Michael Brown on the second anniversary of his death and for some, an unsurprising report on BPD.
1. #BlackGirlMagic has been sprinkled all over the 2016 games. On Thursday, Simone Manuel made history by becoming the first African-American woman swimmer to earn gold in an individual event. On the same night, gymnast Simone Biles won the all-around gold.
These girls are the epitome of #BlackGirlMagic. And it's imperative that young girls of color can look up to athletes who look like them.
As Carol H Hood wrote for The Guardian: "For many of us, [Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez and Simone Biles] – more than half the team – serve as a much-needed reminder of what women of color can do. We have the ability to shape cultures, impact societies and excel against all institutional odds. This is what my niece is used to seeing. ... She takes seeing black excellence for granted, and a part of me hopes that she always does."