Black people are lit. There’s something so special and so beautiful when black people link up. It’s the Diasporic commonality we all share that leads to an unspoken understanding.
It’s that moment of eye contact you make with the black girl across the street, or the head nod you give to the brother who passes you by, the smile that spreads across a black woman’s lips when she sees you. It’s President Barack Obama shaking everyone’s hands and offering dap to black basketball players.
That is why a video like this one, posted by “the Watts Girl,” speaks to my spirit, and yours, too! Let’s call it “Soul Train”—no, not the awesome show from yesteryear hosted by the smooth and late Don Cornelius, but this viral video: a beautiful display of the souls of black folk.
The video takes place on a Brooklyn, N.Y.-bound F subway train, and it starts seemingly during the climax of the sing-along, but the Watts Girl’s caption informs us that two black people started singing the Boyz II Men classic “End of the Road,” and then what seemed like the entire train car joined in. The white people looked delighted, but they didn’t understand. They also may or may not have been afraid.
But there’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just black people singing together—a beautiful noise that showcases humanity, joy and connection. Don’t you just love our unspoken bond, black folks?
This awe-filled viral moment made me say “I love us” immediately. And then I started thinking: This can’t be the first, or the last, time I see a beautiful moment of black living and think, “I love us.” So we’re starting yet another hashtag at The Root: #ILoveUs, a display of a group of black people doing joyful black things. And we challenge you to join in on the fun. Tag @TheRoot and use #ILoveUs to share awesome moments of blackness, and you may be featured on The Root!