By: Mahder Teferra
Social media has blown up recently after a video of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer was taken on May 25, 2020. The gruesome video shows a police officer putting his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds after being put in handcuffs and put on the ground for allegedly forging a $20 bill. This event can be considered the last straw in a series of police killings of innocent black Americans as this is made visible in the nationwide protests, a few of which turned violent. What has also been happening is something called performative activism. Performative activism “is a pejorative term referring to activism done to increase one's social capital rather than because of one's devotion to a cause”. The reposts, the hashtags, the black screens...the sudden activism from people who have been otherwise silent. Don’t get me wrong, social media is a great tool to reach people all across the world, to give those a voice when they wouldn’t usually have one. Without the speed in which social media passes on information and the wide outreach that it has, police brutality and killings would not have garnered enough attention to push for accountability and change in the system. However, the problem is when social media users post for Black Lives Matter or any other cause just because it is the trend. Just because everyone else is doing it. Just to seem “woke”. One or two posts and you’ve done your deed for the cause. The issue with this is not only do people feel like they have done enough by posting something they did not even take the time to write out, activism is diminished to a month long trend which is followed by a return to normalcy. Trends are always short lived, whether it be a fashion trend or a dance or a challenge. People get bored of them after a few weeks and it’s onto the next one. Activism and the BLM movement is not a trend and it should not be portrayed as one. Performative action unfortunately has portrayed it this way and it is dangerous to what activism should really be. How do we use social media while also being a true activist? There are varying answers for there are varying mindsets-but here is my bottom line. Use social media as a tool if you believe that is a way you can help. Don’t mindlessly post what everyone else is posting. Post with a purpose. Post messages and sources that you think can truly help others. Too many people, myself included, quickly post something that they might believe in, but didn’t really think through. We need to be better about this and make activism a lifestyle and not a trend. Do NOT stop at social media. To reiterate, social media is a great tool, if used correctly, but it is only a small part of what is needed to enact real change. There are many actions that can be taken, such as calling/writing to government officials to demand change or justice, signing petitions, donating as much as you can afford, and attending protests if you can do so without compromising anyone’s health or safety. If you are not a person of color it is of vital importance to educate yourself and others around you. While many people of color try to educate others, it is not their responsibility to do so. Have an open mind when approaching these issues. This is a notable time in history where Americans have a chance to pick a side on the topic of racial inequality-especially pertaining to police brutality. Failing to actively pick and support a side is picking the side of the oppressor. We can and we need to do better. It’s not going to be an easy journey(achieving justice rarely ever is) but it is the right thing to do. Black Americans have endured hardships brought about by systemic racism for far too long and it is well beyond time that allies need to stand up for them. “The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power”-Wael Ghonim
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Written By: Megan Mentuck & Photography By: Mia LoGiudice
Getting dressed in the morning has become another task deemed almost unnecessary in the age of the quarantine. It feels useless to swap pajamas for a fashionable ensemble when the only people you'll be seeing are your immediate family. As someone who has always loved fashion, I've found that the past few months have been my least fashionable by far. Pre-quarantine, I loved going to the thrift store with my friends and combing through racks of hand-me-downs for the hidden gems. By: Megan Mentuck
Without the YA genre, I would neither be the writer nor the reader that I am today—hell, I probably wouldn’t be the person that I am today. Given the impressionable age group which the YA genre targets coupled with the fact that the characters are nauseatingly likeable, it's not surprising that these books can be so influential. Sure, they are easy to read and lack any further depth than what is spelled out in monologues given by the protagonist after a spectacularly emotional moment, but this is why I loved them. Unlike more complex, higher-level novels which I’ve read for my collegiate-level English courses, YA fiction offers a portal into a charming world complete with one-liners, outrageous nicknames, and teenagers with seemingly no adult supervision. They may not inform theories of human nature or pose situations that challenge morality—but nevertheless they do hold some influence over their literary constituents. |