Inside TikTok's effort to open doors for its Black rising stars

TikTok introduced an incubator program to help Black users build their brand on the platform. — Car photo created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com

At first, Kirby Dockery found the thought of joining TikTok overwhelming. There were so many questions: "How do I record? What's the beauty effect? How do I do green screen?" But she quickly proved to be a natural.

Her Black history videos — take her explainer on the origins of the Aunt Jemima logo, for instance — and glimpses into her career as a singer and songwriter who worked with the likes of Rihanna gained Dockery 250,000 followers. In January, she applied for a new TikTok incubator, a three-month program specifically aimed at helping Black TikTok users build their brands on and off the platform.