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: "Stay Woke" documentary stirs up emotions about deaths of black men and black youth, #BlackSalonProblems shows the struggle of getting your hair done and Clarence Thomas' lone wolf dissent.
1. On Thursday night, BET aired the documentary "Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement," which was directed and produced by Laurens Grant.
Recounting the deaths of black men and black youth — many of whom died at the hands of police officers — the film takes viewers back to the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Actor Jesse Williams, executive producer of "Stay Woke," said the movement "was a brilliantly framed set of marching orders, slash slogan, slash plea. Young black people, they are plugged in and they're moving."
Following along and tweeting #StayWokeBET, users were doing just that — being engaged and plugged in.
Some felt the documentary could have done better, especially in terms of including the female narrative.
As Williams tweeted in the film's defense, it's difficult to satisfy everyone in 42 minutes.
Diving into the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, the film stirred up a lot of emotions.
And all of this comes just days after the acquittal of Officer Edward Nero, who was charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office in relation to his role in Gray's death last April.
After the verdict, many felt that justice was not done.
2. Beauty is pain. Black girls probably know that better than anyone.
#BlackSalonProblems shows that the struggle is real when it comes to getting your hair done. From spending the entire day at the salon to getting charged extra for having thick hair, for black women, this just might be the most relatable hashtag yet.
3. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone wolf who ruled against overturning the conviction of a black death row inmate, who was convicted in a 1986 murder of an elderly white woman.
Weekend Watch
In a 7-1 ruling, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction and death sentence of Timothy Tyrone Foster because prosecutors excluded minorities from the all-white jury, according to the Associated Press. Foster's case will return to the Georgia state court.
In the majority opinion, via CNN, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: "The focus on race in the prosecution's file plainly demonstrates a concerted effort to keep black prospective jurors off the jury."
Meanwhile, Thomas argued in his dissent that the decision would do more harm than good.
He wrote: "The Court today invites state prisoners to go searching for new 'evidence' by demanding the files of the prosecutors who long ago convicted them. ... I cannot go along with that 'sort of sandbagging of state courts.'"
Still, users were disappointed that Thomas, who is black, didn't take a stance against racial discrimination during jury selection.