MLK Fortnite March Through Time Event depicting the MLK Event Title Card presented by time magazine.

MLK Fortnite March Through Time Event

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Updated Aug 30, 2021 at 06:18PM EDT by Brandon.

Added Aug 27, 2021 at 10:09AM EDT by Brandon.

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Overview

MLK Fortnite March Through Time refers to the in-game event within the battle royale video game Fortnite where players get to go to a special zone dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr.'s march for justice civil rights campaign. The event is part of a collaboration between Epic Games and Time magazine, which was launched in late August 2021.

Background

On August 26th, 2021, it was announced that TIME Magazine was partnering with Epic Games on an MLK-themed Fortnite event in-game for players to tour events surrounding MLK's march for civil rights. The event, which was announced on Twitter[1] via Playstation's official account. The post received 16,000 likes, 20,000 quote tweets and 3,000 replies in 48 hours technically making it a ratioed tweet (shown below).


PlayStation @PlayStation ... Celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in March Through Time, a new experience in Fortnite Creative: play.st/3t1WZTb MARCH THROUGH TIME '63 PRESENTED BY TIME IN FORTNITE 10:01 AM · Aug 26, 2021 · Twitter Web App

The event went live later that day, with players able to sign in and post screenshots on social media of their experiences. One of the most shared screenshots[2] was of the bathroom, where historically accurate segregated sinks could be found. The seriousness of the period piece contrasted with the visuals of Fortnite and a Rick Sanchez avatar from Rick and Morty proved to be too surreal for people, as the tweet received 4,500 likes and 1,100 retweets in less than 48 hours (shown below).


MLK in fortnite and they got segregation RTHE ABOLISHMENT OF Y. MANY STATE AND LOCAL ERNMENTS ENACTED NEW ATION TO IMIT THE RIOMTS OF BLACK AMECAN WHITE COLORED EJAROw LAWS ENFOeCED PARATE AND NFERIOR LIC CCOMMODATIONS FOR BLACK AMERICANS

Online Reactions

The online reaction to the event was largely confusion mixed with skepticism and indignation. Many people likened the event to when artist David Guetta did a shout-out to George Floyd before dropping some beats in the wake of his death, as seen in the tweet by Twitter[3] user @GalaxyPeaBrain (shown below).


Others were posting their indignation at the work and death of MLK being used for a Fortnite publicity stunt via ironic and not serious threats being posted, as is the case in the tweet by Twitter[4] user @ChasmRift, which received over 200 likes in less than 48 hours (shown below).


ight who ass do I gotta beat for putting MLK in Fortnite?

Unsurprisingly, there were concerns over the character's being able to emote within the event. This is due to something that happened in the Black Lives Matter event previously. In that event, players were able to throw tomatoes at the screen, showing their disrespect and displeasure at it. This was touched on by Twitter[5] user @Stutterbox21 on August 26th, 2021, receiving 380 likes for his observation in roughly 48 hours (shown below).


I wonder if Fortnite is going to ban the tomato emote during the MLK event I'm saying this because this happened at the BLM event they did EL4 We're gonna give you tools,

The event was later besieged by players giving lapdances as Ariana Grande and flossing as various other characters, similar to the BLM event. This caused Epic Games to remove emotes from the event, except for certain ones that couldn't be disabled. Among those emotes that couldn't be removed was the whipcrack effect from the DC Comics Catwoman skin, as noted in a tweet by Twitter[6] user @Win98Tech, receiving 12,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).


Windows98 Tech Support @Win98Tech so the Fortnite whip crack emote can't be disabled in the MLK event because its part of a DC package with Catwoman so just f------ bang up job everyone involved 11:02 PM · Aug 28, 2021 18.1K 141 1 Share this Tweet

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – PlayStation

[2] Twitter – @Ishxer

[3] Twitter – @GalaxyPeaBrain

[4] Twitter – @Chasmrift

[5] Twitter – @Stutterbox21

[6] Twitter – Win98Tech

Recent Videos 1 total

Recent Images 26 total


Top Comments

Gleaming Steel
Gleaming Steel

in reply to Red123

MLK sure whatever, but never Malcolm. Don't continue to add to the NoI's disrespect of his legacy.

He is one of the most tragic figures in modern U.S. political history.

First he was brainwashed into a cult at a young age and groomed to be their public face due to his composure, intelligence and eloquence. Then he goes on his Hajj where he realizes that NoI was an abusive cult that had nothing to do with Islam, so he converts to Sunni.

Then when he comes back, he tries to leave the cult and rejects all the hateful, violent rhetoric they instilled in him in favor of preaching racial unity and peaceful brotherhood---Even helping multiple members of the cult leave as well.

So they had him assassinated and after multiple failed attempts at bombing his house while he was asleep they finally succeeded by just shooting him point-blank. Then they wrested control of his legacy and erased from the public consciousness every trace of personal, ideological, and spiritual growth Malcolm had undergone throughout his adulthood away from their influence.

And to this day they continue spreading the lie that he stayed a black supremacist segregationist until his death, and it's horrifying to me since a man's legacy is all he leaves behind when he dies and the idea that the people who killed me could then use me as a sockpuppet to push their views against my living interests is one of the most viscerally repulsive thoughts I can think of.

+86
Molemanninethousand
Molemanninethousand

I actually have no problem with this; Fortnite is already such a crossover clusterfuck that starting to add real historical figures would mainly just be hilariously awesome at this point.

In other words:

+59

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