Instagram’s Page-Deletions of Black Women in Psychedelic Advocacy

Ifetayo penned this opinion piece for Filter Magazine.

After a year of running her Instagram page, “Black People Trip,” Robin Divine had built up a following of over 3,000. She used her platform to post content and resources about psychedelics and the movement’s intersections with race, building a supportive community for Black people to learn and share. Like many others, she realized that there is a real need to discuss race in the psychedelic community, where racism, like other forms of oppression, is often overlooked.

The so-called “War on Drugs” and its attitudes stem from a deeply racialized history, making it impossible to discuss drugs without discussing race. There is therefore a need for safe spaces, online and in person, for Black people to speak about their substance use. So for months, Divine openly talked about drugs and race on Instagram.

Why is talking about these subjects something that results in page-deletion?

One byproduct of the drug war is that most people remain uneducated about drugs, jeopardizing their safety. Changing this requires honest discussion, including on social media. But whenever Divine spoke about race, she got pushback from some Instagram users, who said her posts were divisive.