Kanye 2020 | Page 2

A Threat of Not Only Violence, but A Continuation of an Unjust History

In the article, “Ferguson’s Inheritance: The question is never if resistance will appear, but when. For this generation, Ferguson answered that question,” Donna Murch, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University brings to attention the need to “reflect on the connection between state repression and African-American mobilization past and present.” She powerfully states how…

Surveillance on ‘Private’ Social Media and Public Social Movements

In the article “The Patterning of Repression: FBI Counterintelligence and the New Left,” David Cunningham uses “memos from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) against the New Left between 1968 and 1971 to understand the patterning of repression against protest groups.” The level of real threat from by New Left groups’ size,…

Momentum Behind Black Lives Matter

The articles focus on the Black Lives Matter movement and the revolutionary organization of such. The idea of online activism and how sustainable and effective it is in social movements is a question. Jay Kang wrote the article, “Our Demand is Simple: Stop Killing US”, discusses how the movement started a simple Facebook post, and…

Black Girls Matter

http://time.com/3965032/sandra-bland-arrest-video-police-violence/ Though often trivialized in the media and dominant discourse—belittled as “slacktivism”—the activism of our time is just as alert and engaged as it was in the romanticized 1960’s, but in a novel way. For instance, while the Black Lives Matter movement is often reduced to a hashtag, the articles by Day, Kang, and Herwees…

Black Lives Matter is forcing change and raising awareness…but it’s not enough yet

All three articles focus on the activism related to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, whose ultimate demand is for police to stop killing them, and how it evolved into a nation-wide protest through the use of social media. Though largely leaderless, the movement seems to have several notable Twitter users who stand in as semi-digital leaders. Jay…

Making of a Movement

In the piece in POLITICO, the author writes about how Rev. Barber created the Moral Monday marches in order for people to see the harm the government was doing, while giving people a platform to express their displeasure. Barber’s movement has had long-term success due to Barber’s soft-spoken, beatific elocution. On the other hand, the…

Separate Doesn’t Create Equal

In “Small Change—Why the revolution will not be tweeted,” Malcolm Gladwell reflects on the sit ins by A & T College students that catapulted the Civil Rights Movement agenda and goals. Gladwell explains that the Civil Rights Movement was successful because of strong connects between individuals that allowed them to stand united for their…

Social Media in Social Movements

The role of social media in social movements has undeniably been extremely influential in the recent years. As social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have gained millions of subscribers, they are a new platform for gathering a grass roots sort of following. Social movements have subsequently been impacted in innumerable ways, particularly their organization…

The Good Ole’ (riot) Days

In Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker article, “Small Change”, he reminisces about old school activism in the Civil Rights Movement – when activism used to be admired for its causes not for its tools. While Gladwell sounds slightly like a grumpy older man refusing to accept modern technology, he makes several valid points on why new…

Get Up Offa That Thing

All three readings discuss the role of activism in today’s world, and how the participation in social movements has evolved with the presence of the Internet. Malcolm Gladwell looks at social networks, arguing that though social media increases participation, it reduces the significance of the sacrifices made and also reduces the motivation to make any…