Activism is a Fight for Human Rights, Not Your New Social Media Trend
“No justice, no peace! All cops are bastards! Black lives matter!”
These chants have shrouded the streets of Portland, Oregon for over 130 consecutive days after the death of 46-year-old Black victim George Floyd back in late May. Today, there are newer grievances sparking tension. The lack of charges against Breonna Taylor’s killers, Minneapolis police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove, have incited protests across the country, especially in more urban areas, such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and other active regions. In the wake of the violence on the streets, the storm on social media has grown equally raucous. Discussions on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat have revolved around raising awareness, but more so in exposing the inactivity evident in our society. Unfortunately, the same can be said for our community. Peninsula and other schools in the district subsided their outspoken support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement; we need to bring back the attention to these issues, especially in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election.
By choosing to ignore the human rights violations occurring before our eyes in fear of losing our current lifestyles, we accept a reality in which all people are not granted the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Needless to say, this is unacceptable. Although demonstrating activism does not have to be done online, youth activism must continue in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement until meaningful and long-lasting change is enacted on the peninsula and throughout the United States as a whole.
June 2 was designated as Blackout Tuesday, an event originally intended for people to show their solidarity with the Black community and the movement by amplifying Black voices on Instagram. By the end of the day, over 22 million users had posted black squares; today, most of those black squares have either been deleted from their profiles or lost in photos that display the person’s return to normalcy. Again, online activism is not the only way to contribute, but the number of signatures on online petitions and the decrease in donations to BLM-related funds speak for themselves. Performative action is a lack of action.
Inactivity is no longer an option; we must encourage definitive action in the legislative and political circles to usher forth tangible changes to our systems. Calling local and state officials has its merits, especially in determining the budget for a certain region; with enough momentum, we can include more benefits for African Americans while effectively redistributing police funds to other areas, such as the education system. What does not help: using a template for an email to send to policy makers without reading it beforehand, donating funds to groups that are not truly contributing to the movement or the Black community, signing petitions without checking their credibility and sharing social media posts with false information.
We cannot just focus our contributions on a national scale–encouraging local activism within our school communities is vital. With a demographic of 56 percent White and 21 percent Asian individuals in the Palos Verdes Peninsula area, there is an overwhelming lack of representation of the Black community, which comprises only 3 percent of the population (US Census Bureau). To effectively uplift minority voices, Peninsula must make more significant contributions to creating a more supportive and diverse environment. While steps in this direction were taken when Peninsula’s Associated Student Body hosted a virtual BLM solidarity week from May 31 to June 5, there have been few or muted efforts made by student allies and leadership on campus since then to continue the momentum in the fight for equality. Concrete changes to encourage a more inclusive school community come in the form of hosting cultural diversity events, further promoting the events of cultural clubs and holding others accountable for their actions.
Currently, our faculty has been taking small but noteworthy steps both in and out of the classroom through in-class discussions regarding systemic racism in America and extracurricular events, such as the White Fragility book club, Palos Verdes Faculty Association’s Racial Equity group and the new One Hill Project Initiative. While individual efforts are always appreciated, we can do more, and this includes the need for a school-wide movement to introduce race-specific courses in our curriculums or history classes.
In all aspects of this issue, it always leads back to education. As the school’s newspaper publication, we share this duty in educating the public and providing our students and faculty with the truth. Knowledge is power, and this power may mark a watershed in the conflicts we see today, or on a larger scale, the nation’s adulterated history of racism.
We, the youth, are the revolution. And there will be no peace if we do not seek justice.
