On Thanksgiving Day, Netflix dropped a fire remix of one of Spike Lee's most legendary joints, "She's Gotta Have It." Based on a 1989 film of the same title, the 10-part web series which follows the fictional life and lovers of protagonist Nola Darling (DeWanda Wise) wasted no time confronting a laundry list of contemporary issues ranging from misogynoir and sexual politics to gentrification and the 2016 presidential election. Black Twitter was here for all of it!
This woman is beautiful. This show is beautiful ???????????????????? #ShesGottaHaveIt
pic.twitter.com/QJxYHknxvJ— Damilola (@dami_odufuwa) November 26, 2017
Straight out of the gate, episode one of the Spike Lee directed series depicted an instance of street harassment as Nola physically fights off an aggressor who calls out "Sexy! Sexy! What's your name girl?" and "Ayo, ma!" before grabbing her by her wrists and calling her a b*tch. In response to the trauma-inducing incident, Nola creates a street art campaign called "My Name Isn't" that quickly goes viral.
In a classic demonstration of art imitating life, imitating art, #MyNameIsnt began trending, organically across social media as real women began sharing their real-life stories of real encounters with street harassment. When Netflix dropped a trailer and a meme generator for the movement, the hashtag gained steam as women across the interwebs reclaimed their names.
#MyNameIsnt … Psst or Slim. My name is Sydelle Noel. What's yours? @netflix
@shesgottahaveit
pic.twitter.com/L5DX1g9XDU— Sydelle Noel (@sydelle_noel) November 29, 2017
A comprehensive list for those who need it.
Bars were dropped for the hashtag.
"They told him that the roadmap to heaven was the journey to the apex of her thighs /
They didn't tell him that the heat of a woman's rejection was quicker to come than heaven"By yours truly ???????????????? #MyNameIsnt
pic.twitter.com/z5FEwyteLz— Najya Williams (@najyatheauthor) November 30, 2
Street harassment is universal.
Let it be known.
To add your voice to the online movement, click here to access the #MyNameIsnt meme generator.