In June, when news broke about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Rhode Island Democrat state senator Tiara Mack decided to try a new way to raise awareness for abortion access: She created a TikTok account.
Drawing on her experience as a state senator working directly with a local abortion fund, Ms. Mack, 28, created videos explaining how individuals can help fund abortions in Rhode Island and across the United States. Abortion remains legal in Rhode Island, and Governor Daniel J. McKee recently signed an executive order protecting access to abortion in the state.
But Ms. Mack wanted to highlight the barriers to abortion that still exist in Rhode Island, citing the impact of the Hyde Amendment — which bans the use of federal funds for abortion — on low-income people living on looking for an abortion. In a phone interview, Ms Mack said she joined TikTok to “create a bigger conversation about body autonomy”.
Now Ms. Mack finds her own body at the center of a swirling online debate and media attention. On July 4, she posted a TikTok video of herself in a bikini on the beach. In the eight-second clip, she twerks upside down while doing a headstand on the sand. The clip ends with her facing the camera. “Vote Senator Mack,” she says with a smile.
When DailyExpertNews tried to view Ms. Mack’s TikTok profile on Tuesday afternoon, the app showed a message that read “Account Banned.” In a text message, Ms. Mack said she had not received any advance warning and was unaware that her account was unavailable. On Tuesday evening, a representative of TikTok told The Times in an email that Ms. Mack’s account had been reinstated. The company did not comment on the reason for the apparent ban.
The twerking video quickly gained traction and has since racked up over 220,000 views and 3,000 comments. Some celebrated what they considered joyful self-expression. A TikTok user praised Ms. Mack, saying, “If more politicians pretended to be normal people, I’d better trust them.”
Others condemned the post. Tucker Carlson mocked Mrs. Mack on his show on Fox News, and Lavern Spicer, a Republican congressional candidate in Florida, wrote on Twitter that the state senator has “disgraced herself and disgraced every black woman aspiring to public office.”
Ms Mack said she didn’t expect the video to go viral. But instead of avoiding the spotlight, she chose to embrace the momentum. She posted more videos on TikTok, wrote an article for Newsweek and started the Twitter campaign #TwerkFor to emphasize the core principles of its political platform. “I #TwerkFor joy, abortion rights, body autonomy, trans rights and intersex rights,” she says wrote†
Ms. Mack is emphatic about her right to experience joy on social media. “I can still be a geek and watch anime, crochet, read fantasy novels and live a full and vibrant life outside of politics because joy is important,” she said. “We do not give up our identity when we decide to serve. We are real people.”
“You can lead with twerking — and still fundamentally change policy in your state,” she added.
Ms Mack said her main goal was to inspire a new generation of community leaders who reject professional standards, not to respond to critics from the other side of the political spectrum. “I’m unashamedly black and gay,” Ms Mack said. “I’ve never addressed my message to people who want to compromise leadership that looks new and is bold, vibrant and young.”
Olayemi Olurin, a public defender with the Legal Aid Society in New York City and a political commentator, Posted a clip in which she addressed conservative resistance. “A party that has elected a president who is accused of sexual assault by 18 different women should not express moral outrage over a twerk video,” Ms Olurin wrote.
Ms. Mack has faced criticism from the black community. “She doesn’t help dispel stereotypes about black women,” wrote one Twitter user. “Some decorum is needed.”
“If I’m literally walking back the race by existing and being happy,” Ms Mack told The Times, “it’s because white supremacy has already told their supporters we don’t belong.”
Nadia Brown, a government professor and director of the women’s and gender studies program at Georgetown University, has studied black female state legislators for more than a decade. Her book “Sister Style: The Politics of Appearance for Black Women Political Elites” is about how “black women candidates and elected officials need to balance this very thin line of what black communities think black women should look like,” she said in a phone call. interview.
According to Dr. Brown, there is a history of some black people using “respectable politics” to fight racism and sexism, which may explain some of the criticism of Ms. Mack’s TikTok video. “This was a policy of saying, ‘If we can exceed the norms, norms, behavior, appearance and dress of the white middle class, then you should treat me like you would treat any other woman who behaves like that,'” she said. . said.
“This was completely a resistance tactic that starts after slavery,” said Dr. Brown, “but it’s turning into this vicious circle of black women controlling the bodies and behavior of other black people.”
Ms. Mack said she would continue to use her platform to promote a “justice for all” policy, and said she hoped her #TwerkFor hashtag would become popular across all social media networks.
“Now that people are talking about it,” Ms. Mack said, “she might as well start twerking about it.”
