Assignment 3: Digital Activism
Before I dig into the digital activism I participated in for the assignment, I would like to talk about my own experience and views with activism and how they have been reshaped by recent events.
I am a non-confrontational person by nature. I have my owns views and opinions on many subjects and believe in them whole-heartedly, yet I have never been an activist. My parents raised me to not talk about money, religion, or politics since as a little kid I would go around the playground asking kids and adults if they believed in God. I enjoy deep, personal conversations about belief, not broad statements shouting to the public. That stems from my personality and is not a judgment on how other people speak on the subject. However, with the recent events of what happened to Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and hundreds of other black people, I realized there is a way to be loud about your beliefs that doesn’t have to compromise your character. I am quiet about many issues publicly because I have not had to personally face them. I have never experienced racism, never had to have an abortion, never found myself in the midst of a shooting – yet I have my beliefs on each of these subjects. So what can I do if I want to spread my beliefs but don’t feel I have the voice to do so? Amplify voices of those do personally face these issues. The hashtag #amplifymelanatedvoices hit me in such a way that I understood how to stand for something that I myself haven’t experienced – amplify that voices of those who have. Share their stories, their words, their cries. I have been attempting to educate myself through listening to black people talk about what this world is like for them and, when I feel once strike me, I share it on my social media. I want to be intentional with what I share because if someone starts a conversation with me about it, I want to tell them how it makes me feel and why.
For this project specifically, the cause I am rallying behind is the Black Lives Matter causes. I chose to post graphics telling my followers how to talk about racism and not be defensive about it. Here are the graphics I shared on my story. I chose to share these because I do think racism or defending racism is often done unintentionally but is nevertheless harmful and wrong. Being aware of our own racist actions, intentional or not, helps us grow into better people. These graphics outline ways people discount, twist, or deny that current events that are happening. It is important to be aware of this and push back, even if it is uncomfortable. I have also shared videos from black creators speaking directly to white people on how they can help. These Instagram stories have already expired, but it is my duty to share these voices, especially when they are talking to people like me and telling us what they want to see from us. Black people shouldn’t even need to tell us how we can change and help, but they spend the time and effort to do so, so the very least we can do it listen. I am not black nor do I have any idea what being black is like so it is not my voice that needs to be heard, but I will use any influence I have to further the voices of those that have been hurt.
The article by Tracy Deonn Walker, “Narrative Extraction, #BlackPantherSoLit, and Signifyin’: ‘Black Panther’ Fandom and Transformative Social Practices”, helped opened my eyes to the everyday differences between living as a white person and living as a black person. The article talks about fan labor, which I have not experienced much of. Because of my race, I can easily relate to movies since white actors and actresses are preferred in Hollywood. When reading this article, it really struck me that black children growing up don’t have this luxury. They have to put in extra work to understand and enjoy a movie because they aren’t as represented in movies. I understand now why it was so exciting for some many people of color when they announced that Ariel in the live action remake would be black. Little girls would be able to go to the theaters and see someone that represented them on the big screen. How could anyone be upset by that?
I was also struck when reading about Les Hutchinson talk about anonymity with social media in “WRITING TO HAVE NO FACE: THE ORIENTATION OF ANONYMITY IN TWITTER” about how people feel about their identifying characteristics. People choose to show up anonymously on Twitter for many reasons, but I imagine some people show up so that their race can be hidden and that they can participate at an equal playing field. Since I am a woman, I can understand to some extent about wanting to disguise something that is seen as less than in order to be taken more seriously, and it breaks my heart that we live in a society of systemic discrimination.
I have much growing to do but I am discovering the power of digital activism in aiding any cause. Through exposure, conversations, and commitment to change, any cause has a fighting chance of seeing success.
Works Cited:
Hutchinson, L. (2018). Chapter 10. Writing to Have No Face: The Orientation of Anonymity in
Twitter. In SOCIAL WRITING/SOCIAL MEDIA: Publics, presentations, and pedagogies. Place
of publication not identified: UNIV PR OF COLORADO.
Tracy Deonn Walker. “Narrative Extraction, #BlackPantherSoLit, and Signifyin’: ‘Black Panther’
Fandom and Transformative Social Practices.” Transformative Works and Cultures, vol. 29, 2019, pp. Transformative Works and Cultures, 01 March 2019, Vol.29.