H.E.R.E
In recent months our world has come to a road block in many different aspects of life. In 2020 we have had a lot of change, in some scenarios change is good and necessary. With the social injustice issues that generated in the heart of our very own city, Minneapolis, MN. I would argue the biggest aspect for change right now is for the reform of social injustice In our world. With social reform comes online activism which Is one of the most Important things we learned about In the class all semester. Online activism is so Important in this time, not only because we are working to acknowledge and accept all people no matter their race, ethnicity or religion but because of the covid-19 outbreak forcing the whole world Into disarray for some time.
The idea of online activism has been valid since the beginning of social media, but now with coivd-19 the one of the only way to safely communicate to others Is online through social media and other forms of communication. One example I see often Is the Minnesota Gophers football team H.E.R.E. campaign. This stands for Helping, End, Racism, through Education. Through this campaign players like Seth Green and Brevyn Spann-Ford show their advocacy toward this Issue. Before every game the team links arms down the sideline and plays an informational video of many African American gopher student athletes talking about 2020 and the change that is needed for them and for people of color that are like them. (picture)
The reason this topic Interests me is because of the amount of relationships I have made with people of color. Some of which, are considered my closest friends. I see their struggle, not just sometimes but every single day because of something they can’t control and the aspect of online activism that some of them had the courage to go out of their comfort zone and speak for all of their people in the sense that their needs to be change. And through all of this It Is through digital media making such a strong impact on so many valuable people In our world. Thats the power of online activism.
This Is obviously quite apparent why this Is such a big deal to many people in todays society. People are being mistreated, for things they can’t control or things they simply shouldn’t be judged by. Under certain circumstances the only thing to be done right now to spread awareness and create change is through online activism which the Gopher Football team has shown they’re advocating for and using their platform to make that change in our world.
In conclusion the ideal of online activism has had a huge impact on people lives recently with covid-19 and the rise of awareness for social injustice. With social distancing guidelines online activism has become much more apparent and people have to realize that and take advantage of the technological world while we have the opportunity to raise awareness for the suffering community being affected by racism. We see examples of leadership in this messed up society from the gopher football team and many other big organizations, but the objective is to keep it relevant so change actually occurs. We often see problems such as social Injustice get washed away in other peoples problems and then eventually it becomes a big enough issue again that it reappears, that Is exactly what we are trying to avoid this time. There needs to be change and it needs to happen now.
