By Motlagae Konyana
Since last week people on Twitter have been sharing modern-day photos of celebrities, fashionistas, and iconic television moments in a black and white filter and claiming these people as their ancestors.
This trend got everyone on Twitter suddenly having very famous grandparents or family members, except they’re not really their family members. This is just another Twitter trend that is funnier than it should be and got tweeps. This trend began with a tweet of a black and white filtered picture of British actress Kiera Knightly and Irish actor Cillian Murphy behind the scene of the period drama The Edge of Love. They tweeted and joked, saying the duo were their grandparents in Basra, Iraq, in 1960.

The majority of them feature a celebrity as someone’s grandparent; others have taken classic internet memes and turned them into old-fashioned photos to say they are historical moments from the past.
These memes depict historical moments for people of African heritage and their strides across the diaspora. Other tweeps shared the iconic picture of Nelson Mandela’s release with someone’s familiar-faced grandfather was there. While others shared a night out in Harlem or SophiaTown, claiming that their grandparents were there as well.
My great grandfather’s funeral in 1970. It was the first to be televised on Swazi TV. pic.twitter.com/vKNWT8Gdeh
— SvH ? (@SandilevHeerden) April 6, 2021
The picture of my grandmother back in the 1970’s. She used to be a whistleblower for when cops were coming to the township to provoke black people. She really played her part in the apartheid era. pic.twitter.com/kWwrb16xxY
— ???? ?? ??? (@plscallmeque) April 5, 2021
My great grandma, the first black woman in Parliament (1867) pic.twitter.com/uq0z3soRl1
— AV (@avalenciiaaa) April 6, 2021
In 1818, my great grandmother and her friends were the first to confront John, who was the leader of the apartheid regime, demanding him to open the gate to liberation for all black people. pic.twitter.com/nLuKppjBGL
— ANDI$A (@MabasaAndisa) April 6, 2021



