Dec. 21 has been considered a significant day on the calendar since the 20th century. It’s also come into discussion due to a celestial happening, the Christmas Star, which occurred Monday night. Neither of those occurrences are why Dec. 21 trended on Twitter Monday, though.
Instead, the day became a celebration that was comical for some and possibly aspirational for others. Twitter’s subculture, Black Twitter, has designated Dec. 21 as the day that Black people would receive superpowers, with some referring to the day that starts winter as “Winter Soulstice.”
The thousands of memes, tweets and threads reportedly started when users began a debate Dec. 4 about the validity of coronavirus’ pending vaccinations and whether Black people should consider taking it. Several social media pundits have cast doubt on whether it is safe for Black people to take the shot, because there are past examples of scientific experimentation that has been detrimental to that population.
In a response to the debate, user BB, purported that Black people are genetically “stronger,” and Dec. 21, the user said, would be the day that something magical would occur among Black people to combat any danger vaccinations might pose. Her reply has since been tweeted more than 14,000 times and garnered 3,000 comments.
“As black people, genetically we are stronger and smarter than everyone else, we are more creative, on December 21 our Real DNA will be unlocked and majority will be able to do things that we thought were fiction. Learn who u are as a people they wanna make us average,” the tweet reads.
Her comment began a string of responses that joked about the possibility of superpowers.
Though most appeared to be jokes, some made connections between scientific developments by Black people and other instances of excellence that could speak to unlocking such DNA powers.
By Monday morning, the tweets got wittier, and many said the fictional holiday of sorts made them feel empowered.
Some online users even called out what their metaphorical power and fictional power would be, including the power of foresight, positivity, and, for those going in the fictional direction, “girls forcefield.”
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