It may not be a word that comes to mind when you think #BlackoutDay but it’s something we the organizers have noticed. As we prepare for the last #BlackoutDay of our first year, we have begun to reflect on what brought us here and how we can move forward. Our first year was a foundation year; with the unexpected scale of success from the first #BlackoutDay comes learning how to problem solve, move quickly, and how to give the movement legs.
Our successes have been great but we find that things are fragmented. Fragmentation is why there are conflicting narratives surrounding this movement, such as the change from monthly observances to seasonal ones, what the themes are, and what we are all about. Almost like a game of telephone, confusing information spreads from unofficial sources. While we encourage people to make their own posts regarding The Blackout, a lot of posts end up leaving out important information or presenting incorrect information. We haven’t officially observed the monthly Blackouts since May but there’s still a percentage of people that celebrate the #blackout on the first Friday of every month.
Sept 21st was the first time since March 6th that we managed to get almost everyone on the same page. We want to continue that trend and get us unified. So, while our next #BlackoutDay is scheduled for December 21st, we have already decided our dates for next year in order to combat some of this fragmentation.
As a team, we came together, debated, researched and finally agreed on the dates for 2016 and beyond.
The dates we agreed on are as follows:
March 6th, 2016
June 6th, 2016
September 6th, 2016
December 6th, 2016
It’s important to observe the March 6th date since it is our anniversary and to keep it as simple and streamlined as possible moving forward, our other Blackout Days will fall on the 6th of the other seasonal months. We’ve also made sure that these dates don’t conflict with any major celebrations for other People of Color.
These will be our official #Blackout dates moving forward with themes announced at least 2 months before each date. (We need at least 1 month to come up with a unique theme)
Why promote these dates now? We want to avoid the fragmentation present in our first year as we seek to reach new heights in our second. So spread the word around and let’s get these dates to stick for 2016!
TL;DR: Please note that December 21st will be the last #BlackoutDay for 2015. For 2016 and beyond, it will fall on March 6th, June 6th, Sept 6th and Dec 6th. An easy way to remember is that the months are in multiples of 3 (3,6,9,12) and the day is always on the 6th.
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