Photo courtesy of Adweek
Google kicked off Black History Month with a bang this year by releasing a commercial highlighting several Black leaders, athletes, entertainers, movements and events.
The idea behind the video was to essentially share the most searched moments and people using the Google search engine.
The video was received exceptionally well by social media users and was even aired during the Super Bowl commercial breaks last Sunday.
Keshon Davis, a third year pre-occupational therapy student at FAMU, said that Google proved what some people like to deny about Black success.
“The most prevalent and influential people of today’s society are Black, period,” the Atlanta native said. “Even back in the previous decades, the majority of the people who have influence are not being recognized by the population simply because they are Back. Like Black people know Black people are great and so does the rest of the world, they just like to oppress it.”
According to about.google.com, the process behind putting this masterpiece together was a pretty extensive task. Google Trends, a database used solely by Google, offers a unique look at what the world is searching for and what has captured our attention over time.
“To find the most searched in Google Trends history, we used U.S.-based Trends Data to identify Black American achievements that were searched more than any others between January 1, 2004 – when U.S. Google Search Data first became available — and July 1, 2019,” said the website.
For some FAMU students, the commercial was more than just an advertisement — it was empowering.
“Just watching the video made me feel like wow, we really did this. We came a long way from before and if you’re not Black, you know some people like to look at us differently so I think this video has a major impact and rejected some of those stereotypes,” said Adrienne Lane, a second year general health science major at FAMU.
Google uses its platform to showcase Black accomplishments across the board as well as help Black and Latino millennials and Generation Z follow in those same footsteps of success through a $25 million commitment in 2018.
As a part of this commitment, Google.org is also providing a $3 million grant in support of the NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) over the next three years.
The commercial can be viewed on Google’s YouTube by searching, “The Most Searched: A Celebration of Black History Makers.”