Courtesy of Jasmine Stringer
Jasmine Stringer
Watch for some fresh faces on your Instagram feed today.
Edina-based influencer, author, speaker, and lifestyle expert Jasmine Stringer is launching a statewide social media campaign called #SHARETHEMICMN, which aims to amplify the work, lives, and stories of Black and Brown women in Minnesota.
On Wednesday, the first group of seven Black and Brown influential Minnesota women will take over the social media accounts—primarily Instagram, but some Facebook and Twitter as well—of seven white allies, as Stringer refers to them, in hopes of spreading their messages and stories, creating new connections and relationships, and shifting Minnesota towards becoming a more inclusive and equitable state.
“I am trying to amplify the work, the lives, the stories of dynamic Black/Brown women living in the state of Minnesota by expanding the reach of their voices—leveraging social media as the microphone for this campaign,” Stringer said. “We hope the conversations and new relationships developed will lead to new understanding and insights that will be impactful in tackling systemic racism.”
This week’s partner/ally pairs include: Joi Unlimited’s Dr. Joi Lewis and Clockwork’s Nancy Lyons; U.S. House of Representatives legislative assistant Cheniqua Johnson and House Rep. Jeanne Poppe; Matriarch Digital Media founder and CEO Twila Dang and Edina Magazine (under managing editor Angela Johnson); senior shopper marketing manager for GSK Audra Robinson and Twin Cities Business editor-in-chief Allison Kaplan; Wise Ink Creative Publishing co-founder and co-CEO Dara Beevas and Amy Zaroff of Amy Zaroff Events + Design; Jasmine Stringer and WCCO radio host Jordana Green; and Queen Anna Boutique founder Nicole Jennings and Gavin Kaysen, chef and owner of Twin Cities restaurants Spoon and Stable, Demi, and Bellecour.
A new cohort of participants will take part each week through the end of July, and Stringer hopes to have as many as 20 different participating pairs each week going forward—this week’s group is a bit smaller, Stringer said, as she’s organized the campaign in just 12 days. After July, Stringer said she’ll evaluate the campaign’s interest and success to determine whether it continues.
Stringer already knew firsthand the power of social media. An early fan of the Oprah Winfrey Network, Stringer connected through Twitter with other enthusiasts, and together, they started using the hashtag #OWNambassadors. Eventually, Winfrey invited a group of ambassadors, including Stringer, to meet her. “I actually met Oprah because of Twitter, so I know how lives can be changed, impacted for the better, from a social media community,” Stringer said.
Stringer began thinking about ways to leverage social media in the race conversation on Blackout Tuesday—a collective action on June 2 in which people shared blacked-out photos or dark, silent videos to social media, often in conjunction with resources or accounts of Black leaders, to raise awareness of racism and police brutality following the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. In the days leading up to that social media event, Stringer noticed that she received a significant increase in traffic to her account after WCCO news anchor Jason DeRusha tagged her in a related post.
Then, on June 10, an initiative called Share the Mic Now was launched by bestselling authors Luvvie Ajayi Jones and Glennon Doyle, William Morris Endeavor CMO Bozoma Saint John, and fashion designer and Alice + Olivia CEO Stacey Bendet. During it, Julia Roberts, Hilary Swank, Gwyneth Paltrow, and 43 other white celebrities, each with millions of instagram followers, turned over their accounts to Black stars, writers, businesswomen, and activists including Angelica Ross, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Opal Tometi, and Tarana Burke. Share the Mic Now’s organizers told The Hollywood Reporter that the campaign, which aimed to magnify Black women’s lives and voices and form new interracial relationships and networks, reached more than 300 million people on Instagram. The campaign’s founders also encouraged prominent Black and white women to create similar campaigns around the world.
That was the final link for Stringer. She decided to create a Share the Mic Now campaign, but focus it on Minnesota, where she and other Black/Brown women could share their stories with people who might be their neighbors, but have different life experiences.
So far, support for #SHARETHEMICMN has been strong. The U.S. Bank Foundation, which often provides grants to nonprofit organizations and community initiatives, provided #SHARETHEMICNOW with seed money to help get it off the ground.
Often, Stringer said, people’s Instagram feeds are full of people who look like them and share similar experiences.
“I believe it’s our stories that connect us, and I believe that this movement—whatever people are calling it: a new awakening, Black Lives Matter, dealing with systemic racism; however you’re naming it—you need to have a personal connection to it,” Stringer said. “Because I think that when you understand another person’s pain, another person’s perspective, it makes it easier for you to get on board because you can say, ‘Wait a minute. I know Jasmine, and she’s a great person…’ So you can just start sharing and expanding your normal perspective. And what’s a better way to do that these days than social media?”
