#BLM in 2020: Reflecting on my engagement with the movement
In the conclusion to my previous blogpost, I touched upon the downsides of social media activism, citing polarised echo-chambers as an example. Echo-chambers definitely played a significant role in the #BLM wave of 2020, which was split into two broad camps of #BlacklivesMatter and the reactionary #AllLivesMatter/#BlueLivesMatter— a countermovement which according to Goldberg (2015), expresses a sentiment of ‘racial dismissal, ignoring, and denial’.
In part due to its polarised representation by media outlets, #BLM was not perceived uniformly at all. However, research noted an increase in support for the movement; drawing conclusions from data by Civiqs, on June 10th, 2020 Cohn and Quealy (2020) wrote:
‘Over the last two weeks, support for Black Lives Matter increased by nearly as much as it had over the previous two years’
There are various reasons why one might have engaged with/ignored/took an active stance against the movement. As a young, privileged, POC person with access to digital media and the luxury of spare time, as well as the filter bubbles I form part of on Instagram, I felt compelled to engage with and support the movement.
Disclaimer: Anti-racism work is not a self-improvement project. The point of the following list is not to centre myself in the conversation, but rather to highlight the educational potential of social media and to advocate for self-analysis/reflection when engaging in social media activism.
Since the second wave of the #BLM movement, I:
- Made a conscious choice to follow black creators, forming parasocial relationships with countless inspiring and educational social media users
- Learnt about the history of racism, the concepts of ‘white privilege’, ‘intersectionality’, ‘microagressions’, ‘structural racism’, ‘colourism’ , ‘shadism’, ‘trauma porn’, the ‘white saviour trope’ and many more constructs or mechanisms entrenched in racism
- Sought out documentaries, films, and books and art by black creators to engage with
- Had conversations with friends and family about race
- Attended the #BLM protest in Valletta
In conducting research for my previous blogposts on performative activism, virtue signalling, slacktivism, misinformation and the ‘ease’ that comes with posting on social media, I began to reflect on my own experience. In a thread about social media activism, Marie Beechham, an antiracist online educator shared the following ‘Slacktivism self-assessment’ to her Twitter:
While my own activism was taken offline, as outlined in the list above, I definitely feel as though the ease that comes with reposting online sometimes resulted in my sharing of a post (about anti-racist resources to consume, for example) instantly and without much thought about the impact it would have.
Marie Beechham’s self-assessment serves as an important reminder, if not an indictment of my own attitudes. A conviction that social media activism should supplement, and not replace offline activism and collective action.
Ultimately, social media carries the inherent risk of solipsistic activism, that we might content ourselves like a 21st century Narcissus with our reflection in a river of unceasing content dressed as activism. But that is the pitfall, and not the only mode, of social media. For some, it is the first place where they might wilfully encounter activism — that alone is worth the strife to avoid that pitfall, the ego-trap, of social media.
This blog is a project for Study Unit MCS3953, University of Malta
References
Cohn, N., & Quealy, K. (2020). How Public Opinion Has Moved on Black Lives Matter. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 29 January 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/10/upshot/black-lives-matter-attitudes.html.
Goldberg, D. (2015). HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media. Huffpost.com. Retrieved 29 January 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-black-lives-matter_b_8191424.
