Meet the group of 16 year olds that started a new national challenge: #TheMannequinChallenge.
Emili Allen, Jasmine Cavins, Bre’Onna Brewer, Jalen Hill, A’laynah Bailey, and Deryk Hill were just being spontaneous when they decided to do the #MannequinChallenge.
#manequinchallenge SHARE‼️ RT‼️ pic.twitter.com/k1BqR6iZ1p
— blackie (@pvrity___) October 26, 2016
It was posted on Twitter on October 26 by Twitter user Jasmine Cavins. In under two weeks, it was trending on social media and everyone from the FLOTUS, Michelle Obama and the Cleveland Cavaliers to Beyonce have posted videos of their mannequin challenges.
DIVERGE asked them to share their story:
Where did the ideas of the mannequin challenge come from?
It was really just a spontaneous idea that came from just us being us.
What was the goal you wanted to achieve?
Really, we just want to influence our generation to join in unity and be positive. If we can come to together to do a viral challenge, there’s no telling what we can come together & accomplish as a community. One of our other goals is being on Ellen.
How quickly did people start doing it?
I believe in a matter of two days a lot of schools in our city began to create their own Mannequin Challenge. In about a week, celebrities starting joining the trend.
How did you feel about it trending on twitter?
We were very excited to the hashtag trending on twitter. It’s really cool to see everybody talk about something you & your friends created.
What are some of your favorite Mannequin Challenges?
Some of our favorite challenges to see are Beyonce and Kevin Hart. Seeing Hillary Clinton do it was also really cool!
Have you done anything like this before?
No, we have not done anything like this.
How hard was it to tape? How many takes?
It actually wasn’t hard to tape. Our friend Dana Carter pretty much understood the concept of how we wanted the video filmed. She started from one side & slowly went to the other side making sure she got everybody from different angles.
As far as us keeping our poses, that is a different story. We are very goofy people so sometimes we would do a little giggle or maybe blink. It never took more than two times to film a pose though.
Here are some of our favorites:
Michelle Obama and the Cleveland Cavaliers:
Freezing our @WhiteHouse visit in time forever with @FLOTUS!#MannequinChallenge 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/iX1qaJ8qQQ
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 11, 2016
Paul McCartney:
Love those Black Beatles #MannequinChallenge pic.twitter.com/aAu9umHKI7
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) November 10, 2016
A powerful message by Simone Shepard:
Damn this is so powerful 😳🙏 #MannequinChallenge pic.twitter.com/Asbd4xjE3k
— Mannequin Challenge (@MannequinClips) November 10, 2016
SapientNitro:
Hillary Clinton and staff:
Hillary Clinton #MannequinChallenge 👀 pic.twitter.com/gDwVCqVDCT
— Mannequin Challenge (@MannequinClips) November 9, 2016
Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams
Beyoncé, @KELLYROWLAND & @RealMichelleW doing the #MannequinChallenge ❤️ pic.twitter.com/piykNf58bf
— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@Bey_Legion) November 7, 2016
BBDOATL:
