Emily Ratajkowski slams those participating in #BlackOutTuesday who were silent for years: 'It's embarrassing'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Emily Ratajkowski is speaking her mind.
The 28-year-old model took to Twitter on Tuesday to express her disdain for the #BlackOutTuesday trend on social media in which people post a simple, plain black square.
The movement was intended to bring awareness to and raise support for the civil unrest caused by protests against police brutality toward African-American citizens.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"So easy to post a black square. I’m seeing people who haven’t posted in YEARS come on to post a black square," said Ratajkowski online. "Your silence was embarrassing and now you can feel good about yourself while doing the bare minimum. This is the worst kind of [virtue] signaling."
Ratajkowski said that posting the black square while not taking more overt action is "straight up dangerous."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The mainstream media isn’t blacking out today, the MAGA dudes in my mentions aren’t blacking out today," the model continued. "Clogging up the only reliable news source and communication channel ISNT HELPFUL."
She then shared a video featuring an Instagram feed. As she scrolled through the feed, the majority of the posts were black squares, very few containing any additional information or visuals.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL AMPLIFYING A MOVEMENT & BLACK VOICES?" Ratajkowski wrote over the video.
The model is not alone in how she feels, either.
CNN’s A.J. Willingham wrote a piece headlined, “Why posting a black image with the 'Black Lives Matter' hashtag could be doing more harm than good,” which explained potential issues with the particular protest.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“While these posts may be well-intended, several activists and influencers have pointed out that posting a blank black image with a bunch of tags clogs up critical channels of information and updates,” Willingham wrote in reference to specifically using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
“Protests are still raging around the country. Arrests are piling up by the thousands," Willingham continued. "Visibility for different groups and activist projects are key right now. And one of the most common ways to keep track of all of this is by monitoring or searching tags."