If you follow Donald Trump’s Twitter feed, you may have noticed several prominent accounts that appear to be profiles belonging to black people–high up on his Twitter feed of responses. Some of these accounts have thousands and thousands of followers. Others even have the blue Twitter check mark next to their account names. Yet, exactly who is behind these accounts is ambiguous. The rise of bots in the guise of fake black people on social media remains a worrisome issue heading into the 2020 elections.

Take for instance, the Twitter account @RyanHillMI, aka Ryan Hill. This account has a blue check mark which, supposedly, means it was vetted by Twitter and confirmed to be an actual person. Yet, a Google (or Bing) search on ‘Ryan Hill Michigan’ only yields results of a white, male lawyer in Michigan, and nothing about a young, black man in the Michigan area—which the @RyanHillMI’s avatar depicts.

I reached out to the Ryan Hill account on Twitter. I asked him (it?) about doing an interview and providing some background information. The conversation turned bizarre as you can see from the below screenshot (these are his remarks to my inquiries):

I also contacted Twitter and asked the company about assigning a blue check to an account a journalist could not find much information about. I was told I would receive an answer. I am still waiting.

Needless to say, the account raises some suspicion about authenticity. If it is indeed some sockpuppet account posing as a black person to influence politics—it wouldn’t be the first time some vested interest engaged in ‘bot blackface.’

Perceptive social media users have even unearthed fake black accounts using Google’s reverse image search feature. One such Twitter account, @Mike47441781, was proven to use a stock image as the account’s avatar.

Shireen Mitchell is the founder of Digital Sisters and Stop Online Violence Against Women. She’s done in-depth research about the use of impostor black accounts pushing political agendas across social media.

Mitchell says the activity behind these fake accounts boils down to “getting people not to vote for Democrats.” She points out that social media is the ultimate affordable platform for white supremacists.

As one of the authors of Stop Online Violence Against Women’s report on targeted black voter suppression on social media, Mitchell and her team reported on the Russian Internet Research Agency’s purposeful political ad targeting to black Americans.

“The 3,500 ads on Facebook by the Russian Internet Research agency were centered largely on Black American Culture over all other identity and race-based narratives. While the race-based focus of the Russian-purchased ads has been acknowledged in some reporting and previous studies, it has not been pointed out in the media that the themes of Black Identity and culture were the focus of the majority of the ads with the intent to engage in voter suppression of Black voters,” stated Mitchell and the other report authors in a press release.

“The sobering analysis in this report documents that Russian ads were overwhelming focused on Black American Culture, and often specifically on Black women with the goal of voter suppression,” says Jessie Daniels, Professor of Sociology at The City University of New York, and a Fellow at The Data & Society Research Institute. “This report is an urgently needed reminder that we ignore the way racism is woven into technology at our own peril.”

The report found that Russian actors specifically manipulated topics such as Hillary Clinton’s “super predator” comment from 1996; and issues related to race and policing, immigration, and guns. You can read the entire report here.

Much of the controversy over fake black social media accounts also surrounds the American Descendants of Slaves (ADOS) movement. ADOS activists claim that African American voters should vote for politicians that support policies beneficial and exclusive to the African American community, such as reparations.

Buzzfeed reported that social media ADOS activist accounts are often accused of being bots and “Russian trolls”:

Some Twitter users still doubt the authenticity of some of the accounts tweeting about the movement. One user account questioned if she’d have to mute #ADOS and posted a screenshot of an account created in 2009. “This might be important,” the user said. “I saw a warning the other day that the new bot movement is old accounts that have been dormant. This account was created in 09 but just started tweeting literally 15 mins ago.”

Clearly, there are concerted efforts to splinter the powerful black voting bloc and to keep black people from voting. It’s important that black people stay vigilant over whose information to trust on social media.

One professor offered a few tips to NPR on how to pinpoint possibly fake black profiles:

–Beware of accounts that regularly use stereotypical quote-unquote black language. These accounts typically use language they think black people use.

–Check the number of tweets and followers on an account.

–Check how long ago an account was created.

–Check the type of tweets or posts the account has on its timeline.

Cardi B has made it clear that she doesn’t need more press–-and it’s in large part due to her amazing publicity team at The Cream Agency, headed by Patientce Foster.

Foster plays multiple roles for Cardi, which includes being her independent publicist. She shared, “We work very closely with Ashley Kalmanowitz, our label publicist, who has done an amazing, consistent job in bringing an immense amount of press opportunities to the table. I am also head of her brand partnerships, and day-to-day operations. [Cardi] has honestly allowed me to be a part of almost every conversation pertaining to her career, including creative, her music, her vision, her ambitions.”

Behind the Scenes of Celebrity Publicity

While onlookers get to appreciate the beautiful glossy images, energetic performances, and humorous interviews Cardi B dishes, each of these requires lots of preparation. Foster shared that the most challenging part of the job is having to work under a constant pressure that never seems to let up. You must make yourself available for everyone else while still trying to be emotionally available for yourself.

“It’s easy to lose yourself and your mind while trying to keep up with the demands and obligations of the job,” she says with a laugh.

[RELATED: WE’RE ALL DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM CARDI B: THE UBIQUITY OF HIP-HOP’S CURRENT IT GIRL]

The industry has its perks too. Foster loves being able to work with kind-hearted people with brilliant minds and genuine souls. Noting, “The best part of my job is having a voice, being able to be vocal about what we’re doing, where we’re going, how to evolve and remain consistent.”

Getting into the Industry

Foster recommends that anyone interested in pursuing this career look to build in every direction that could align with their end goal.

“Don’t be so specific in your direction that you turn down opportunities that will help you to build a Rolodex or increase your experiences. Place yourself in rooms that will help you to build contacts. Place yourself at tables that will open your ears to conversation and educate you. Become so well-versed in the industry so that when your time does come you’re equipped with education, contacts, and networks. Those elements are essentially what the person/brand hiring you wants–your reach and your experience.”

Rubbing Shoulders with Celebrities

Rubbing shoulders with celebs is a dream for many, but there are unspoken rules. Foster advises that your approach and intent are everything. “Some people want to rub a shoulder for a photo opp, rub a shoulder to be able to post on social media and caption the moment as if they are acquainted with the celeb and use the visual for their own leverage. My pet peeve would be how the approach is made. Complimenting a celeb, asking them to possibly look at their art, listen to their music or [ask] for a photo is always OK, but how it’s done is what bothers me. The sense of false entitlement is what bothers me.”

Patientce Foster’s Journey to Becoming Cardi B’s Publicist

While Foster cannot forget her Southern roots being born in Charlotte, North Carolina, she credits her upbringing to Wilmington, Delaware, where she moved at the tender age of 7.

“The city of Wilmington has played a major role in my development as a person and as a professional. The fact that Delaware is the second-smallest state, makes Wilmington even smaller. There’s no radio station, sports team, little to no representation. We are often overlooked. It takes a certain consistency, determination, and tenacity to be visible, to be seen, to be recognized. It’s easy to feel defeated when you’re counted out, or always coming in last. Wilmington lent me a fearless mind, a tough skin, and a confidence I wouldn’t have been able to get from anywhere else.”

Leaving her job at Hertz to start a full-service salon is what led her to Cardi. Foster’s pivots may seem haphazard to some, but she had a clear vision.

“I left Hertz to open a full-service salon in 2013, Vixated. Vixated was able to fuel my ambitions and my journey to being a publicist by allowing me freedom, time, and funds to travel and take unpaid opportunities to build my resume and experience. It was in my second year of business (2015) that I was introduced to Cardi by a friend at the time, and now my partner. She needed hair and beauty services and my Wilmington salon location provided that. God made it so that we met again a month later during a Fashion Week PR internship, and it was then that I was hired. I went from working in Hertz, to building a business that paved the way to a career in publicity.”

On top of being a ‘small town girl’ who took a leap of faith to start her own business, Foster is also a single mother. This responsibility helped to mold her in a massive way,

“Being a single mother is a responsibility like no other. You can’t go out and a build a team to assist you, or ask just anyone to help you, or expect anyone to love and care for your child the way you do. That baby is yours, and yours only, your responsibility and forever obligation. Nothing is about you anymore, everything is about your baby. Every decision you make is for that baby. Every goal you make and plan you execute has one end goal, that baby, and the baby’s future.

“That mindset has become the fuel that burns my fire, it has become the motivation and intent behind every decision I make. It has made me a more aware woman, a more direct woman, a more assertive woman. There’s no time for question, doubt, or error. I have become a more decisive woman. I have to go get what I want, and ask for what I want, and make what I want happen–not for me anymore, but for the future, and well-being of my child.”

Millennials Changing the Game

Foster, a Millennial herself, does not buy into the dialog that Millennials are lazy and entitled.

“I believe that we are in a new era of new approach. How the generation before us achieved success, and the paths they took has changed. Times have changed.

“I believe that this generation is innovative, fearless, doesn’t hear the word ‘no’ [and] will make something out of nothing. This generation has been revolutionary. We have single-handedly changed the world as they once knew it. This generation has changed the digital age, how we listen to music, how we purchase items, how we socialize, how we look for and obtain jobs. This generation has given the power to individuals in becoming whatever they want to be.”

The Cream Agency

Foster is so grateful in what she has been able to accomplish. “[I’m] so humbled to be a part of one of the greatest, most consistent teams in the game. My contributions, my work, and my results have allowed me to build one of the fastest-growing PR and creative marketing/branding boutique agencies in the business. The Cream Agency has only begun to make its mark. The impression we make will be one that will last to the end of time. I’m standing on that!”

Black Enterprise Contributors Network 

Marcus Garvey once said that “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” If you’re scratching your head wondering who Marcus Garvey is, then you’re in need of a black history lesson, and you might start by watching the PBS debut of Family Pictures USA on PBS Aug. 12 and 13.

The brainchild of filmmaker and artist Thomas Allen Harris, Family Pictures USA is the latest outgrowth of an award-winning body of work from this director who has always been driven by a desire to bring the largely hidden and neglected history of black people in America into the light.

An entirely new type of reality show, this new television series reconstructs the histories of resilient communities such as Detroit and Durham, North Carolina, through the memories of longtime residents and the treasured family photographs they share.

Black History Narratives 

The result is a compelling and educational show that highlights not only individual family stories, but the weaving together of those stories over the course of generations into the history of a larger community, a city, its economy, its culture, and its hopes. The show stands apart for its simple elegance and narratives that, unlike most reality shows, don’t feel contrived.

When the descendants of Frank Wall, a second-generation Duke University janitor who bequeathed $100 to the school for use in the advancement of black men, share their photos and memories alongside the descendants of George Washington Duke, the white tobacco industrialist for whom Duke University is named, the history of those families, the city of Durham, and its most famous institutions, takes on a whole new meaning.

(Family Pictures USA/Flickr)

Centered on pictures of people who are long dead, the storytelling of their descendants is very much alive, honest, and intimate and Family Pictures USA’s approach to mining these stories also stands apart for its inclusiveness. Says Harris, simply, “You can’t tell American history without including African American history.”

While Harris, who teaches film and African American History at Yale, is always motivated in part by a desire to educate, he admits to being surprised by how much he learns in doing the show. “The stories of black business people who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps that you never heard about or had an image for were pretty amazing. The series helped me understand how towns were formed and how they developed and how people of means and employers shaped culture and people’s lives.”

Breaking Down Stereotypes in Country’s Current Political Tone 

Harris, who stepped out from behind the camera to host the series, says it has been the most financially ambitious project he’s directed to date. Leveraging the success of his 2014 award-winning documentary, Through the Lens, Darkly, he and his partners raised $2.3 million largely through grants from the Ford Foundation and others. PBS, which is eager to compete more dynamically with other networks, invested about $250,000. A small network of high net worth African American businesspeople also contributed. In order to complete the series, Harris is still looking to close a $125,000 gap.

Harris, a Harvard graduate who began his career in public television, first produced award-winning shows in his native New York for WNET. He says that even 30 years later, raising money for new film projects remains a challenge.

Thomas Allen Harris (Family Pictures USA)

“Artists are used to networking with other artists, but I don’t know if we’re used to networking with people who think radically differently than we do, who may be business or finance people,” he says. No matter what your background is, to successfully finance a project, Harris adds, “You have to be able to tolerate rejection without any kind of resentment. Persistence and finding those sweet spots of commonality are key.”

Family Pictures USA certainly offers those sweet spots. Especially given the tone of the country as the 2020 election nears; Harris says he hopes the show will help break down the stereotypes and other barriers that divide us, and that through the show’s all-inclusive spectrum of photos, we will come to see ourselves in each other more and lean more into our commonalities.

As he says in a promo, “Once you see our history through family pictures, you’ll never see this country the same way again.”

More articles by Caroline Clarke: 

• UNPACKING THE WENDY WILLIAMS EXPERIENCE
• BAD ASS BLACK WOMEN: TIME TO CLAIM YOUR PLACE IN HISTORY
• This Woman May Have Been the First Black Woman Manager in the Fortune 500

True to her calling card as one chosen to liberate the oppressed, singer/actor/activist Janelle Monae is back at it again (as if she ever stopped). Her aim? To empower women and those who identify as such via art, music, mentorship, and education. In partnership with Belvedere Vodka, Monae hosted ‘A Beautiful Future’ dinner—a sensory bouquet immersing guests in music, art, dance, and tech at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art on the eve of her Lollapalooza performance.

“This collaboration is a convergence of our shared beliefs: optimism and the power of ‘the we, not me’ to bridge divides,” said Rodney Williams, president of Belvedere Vodka. It was the next level up from the Hidden Figures starlet’s Fem the Future grassroots organization and similarly-named series of brunches previously hosted in Berlin, London, and New York.

(Image courtesy of Belvedere)

“I think it’s important whenever you work with brands that they understand your vision,” says Monae, who in addition to playing an abolitionist master teacher in Harriet Tubman’s life story, was also recently announced to replace Julia Roberts as the headlining character in the psychological thriller, Homecoming. “When Belvedere heard that I wanted to highlight voices and put more opportunities in the hands of women they said, ‘How can we help?’”

(Image courtesy of Getty)

Aside from debuting a metallic collage-designed, limited edition bottle of Belvedere’s super-premium vodka—inspired by Monae—the event zeroed in on art, food, and the celebration of four individuals from Chicago whose work aligns with the theme of diversity, inclusion, self-expression, and “access to explore one’s passions freely,” explained Monae.

(Image courtesy of Belvedere)

The honorees included sexual assault activist Scheherazade Tillet, co-founder and executive director of A Long Walk Home, a nonprofit that uses art and film to raise awareness and end violence against girls and women; Nikki Roberson, fundraising director and community outreach liaison for Kicks 4 the City; LaForce Baker, founder and CEO of Moon Meals; and celebrated visual artist and architect, Amanda Williams.

“She believes in positivity and elevating other’s voices and these are ideas that as a brand we can champion and get behind,” said Carlos Zepeda, VP of Belvedere Vodka US.

Baker, the founder of Moon Meals, is one of those voices. Currently, his product is sold in 188 grocers across Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa and he projects it will be available in over 1,000 stores, including Whole Foods, CVS, and Walgreens by the end of 2020.

Moon Meals, he says, builds upon Monae and Belvedere’s Beautiful Future motif in three ways: by increasing access to quality meals on the South and West sides of Chicago, where food deserts are prevalent; by generating revenue for economically depressed neighborhoods; and by hiring and servicing women of color. “Our products empower our customers, which are predominately women, by giving them the nutrition they love, on the go, and without much sacrifice.”

The dinner was served at a stunning 90-foot-long table, attended by 80-plus cultural tastemakers, social justice influencers, and key Chicago business stakeholders with rousing music from DJ Rae Chardonnay. It featured five courses by Jason Hammel, chef of Marisol, a restaurant at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Technology also took a center seat at the table. Running down the center for the full length of the table was an LED display monitor pumping messages of encouragement and inspiration. The first course of the five-course dinner included a plate with brightly lit headphones playing a special message from Monae’s alter ago, Cindy Mayweather, an android from the year 2719.

“Tech is a powerful tool. But I want to make sure that the bias is not there. That’s been a big concern of mine,” says Monae, who stresses that as technologies like artificial intelligence or voice and facial recognition are developed further, Silicon Valley should bring women and diverse voices to the table on the front end.

“Because when we’re not in the room and there is only one type of person in the room making these decisions, I think that it won’t be a beautiful future.”