Christina Brown, known to her followers as @missxtinab, is not just a social media influencer but a multifaceted artist blending comedy and community activism. With a unique voice and a knack for engaging storytelling, she navigates the digital landscape with wit and wisdom, offering a refreshing perspective on the intersection of Black culture and the world we live in. In this interview, she shares her goals and dreams, and the price she has paid for being true to herself.
What motivated you to begin producing content on social media?
I have been creating content before TikTok, using Twitter, using Facebook, just kind of my own posts and opinions about what’s going on in the world. And what initially made me first start creating video content was 2020, the George Floyd protest, and BLM. I was in grad school in Paris at the time, and I was feeling really isolated from home, seeing what was going on.
The COVID pandemic had just started, and lockdowns were happening, and I created content to feel a closeness to what was going on at home with my community and the Black community around the world. And that was my first viral video, and I’ve been creating content since then. And I’ve been doing it full-time now for three years.
What has been the biggest challenge, your biggest challenge, as far as being a social media influencer, as well as a comedian and writer?
I think my biggest challenge has been honestly navigating being visible and bold. When you get as much praise as I’ve gotten over the last couple of years, I’ve also had moments where I’ve had to manage a lot of hate and a lot of harassment. The reason I started doing content full-time was because I actually got fired from being doxed. I was substitute teaching in the middle of my grad school program, and I made a video. I made a joke about the effects of racism on Black people and the Black community, and White folks thinking that the revolution or the Civil War is going to come back again. And I got doxed by a lot of White supremacists, and they called my job. They found my phone number, my address, et cetera. So navigating that, me being a Black, queer, outspoken woman, being visible and loud and bold, I can be met with people who hate that, and yet I still push forward. That’s probably been the most difficult thing.
That leads to my next question. How do you handle criticism and negative comments?
I used to argue back and forth and try to get people to see my side. And then, when I realized number one, it was affecting me negatively as far as my mental and emotional health, and two, people weren’t actually wanting to hear me. They wanted to get a rise out of me. I started reaching out to my community, like people that I know in real life who know me for me in those moments. I also started stepping away from the phone and taking a break. I realized that there are a lot of people who appreciate the work that I do. I reminded myself that even if the voices of people who criticize me, hate me, or dislike me are really loud, the volume might not be as loud as the people who care about me or have loved my content. My content has provided guidance and encouraged people to reflect on themselves and the world around them. It has also improved their self-confidence. So, I try to remind myself that I’m doing good work. And if you’re not making people a little mad or shaking a room, are you really doing what you need to be doing? It comes with the territory.
Social media trends change quickly. How do you keep your content fresh and engaging?
My process for that is to check the news. Sometimes, it could be a lot, but I’m on social media and checking news and updates on pop culture, social issues, and what’s going on. When the news cycle is really fast and rapid, I tend to just pinpoint one type of thing that I want to do. It’s helpful that I really only talk about the Black community, Black issues, and Black culture because that streamlines my content in a way where I make content for my community. And then I also have a lot of my own ideas. So, I’m not just regurgitating, I guess, what it is that we’re all seeing. I don’t need to be continuously online. I can get the gist of something or a story, and then I’ll build on top of it, whether it’s through a comedic skit, comedy writing, or it’s me breaking down the sociology of it.
One of the things that I love about your content is that you’re so spectacular about whatever you’re tackling. And you do it with so much charisma. How do you balance your personal life with the demands of social media and live performances?
Oh, that is so funny. Thank you for noticing the drama… That’s a test of how I really am. When people ask if someone’s like that in real life, that’s the show choir kid in me jumping out. How do I balance my personal life? I’m still learning. I think I’m still figuring it out as my visibility grows. One thing I know for sure is that my personal life and my relationships aren’t content. And I made that decision a couple of years ago when there was a moment where my personal life became a source of hate and attacks. And I was like, I never want to do this again. And it helps keep my sanity that I keep things separate. There’s the Christina, that’s the content creator, the comedian online who creates and is loud and boisterous.
And then there’s Christina, who has a personal life, who’s still loud and boisterous and extroverted and creative. But those relationships or the parts of my personal life, like where I live, the communities I frequent and what I do, and my hobbies and my loved ones, are just for me and them.
It appears that you’re collaborating more with some of the other influencers, comedians, and creatives. How do you navigate those relationships?
Those relationships feel so organic. A lot of the people I collaborate with, I’m actually friends with in real life. And I have such a beautiful, large, vast community of Black influencers and content creators that happened organically. I think it is because when it comes to social media content creation and influencing, it feels very new. TikTok was only a thing in the last couple of years. So, we all came up together, and it felt like we were learning the game all at the same time. You become mutual friends with other creatives, and you start to become fans of each other’s content. And then it’s, I’m in your city, what are you doing? And it can go from, let’s meet up, to just breathe and hang out. You can find someone who can understand the world that you’re navigating because not everybody gets it. That can blossom into beautiful friendships and or creative partnerships. So, thus far, knock on wood, I’ve had a great time and a real organic time collaborating and building friendships and relationships with other content creators.
Now, what’s next for you? Any new projects or goals you have planned that you’re really excited about?
Next for me? Well, speaking of collaborating, another content creator and I just started a podcast on cancel culture. That is super exciting. It’s just us, our own venture, no sponsors, and no one came to us. We were like, let’s just do it. I’m very excited to see where it goes, because it feels like we’re talking about something that is really pivotal at this time with the carceral outraged behavior of dogpiling on people. We want to be able to kind of bring some humanity to the creators or to people online who’ve been attacked and get attacked by not thousands, but hundreds of thousands.
And then, for me personally, I’m currently based in New York. I moved to New York two and a half years ago, after starting content creation full-time because I wanted to pursue comedy writing, but I’d never done it. My academic background was political science, international relations, and social sciences, but I really wanted to be a comedian. I’ve been doing standup for a year now. I’m a standup comedian baby. And for the future, I’m excited. Eventually, I want to star in my own show. I want to write a comedy TV script, a mockumentary specifically. I want to write. I want to create and tell stories, not only on social media but also on bigger screens, if possible.
