Analyzing Digital Activism

Kaepernick featured on the Oct. 3 issue of 2016 in Times Magazine. Football has always been a favorite American past time that embodies the epitome of American culture. Therefore, no one would expect football to be apart of one of the biggest political debates. In 2016, football became the poster child for the hashtag, TakeAKnee. TakeAKnee exemplifies problems that were prevalent in 2016, and how the hashtag manifested into other political debates in 2019. TakeAKnee incorporates the issues of immigration, black lives matter, and the issue of free speech. Collin Kaepernick sitting during the National Anthem. Before #TakeAKnee In order to understand the movement #TakeAKnee and how it has impacted the NFL, we have to go back to the movement #BlackLivesMatter. The movement started when George Zimmerman, a white man, was aquitted for the murder of seventeen year old, Trayvon Martin. Martin was on his way to buy snacks when he noticed someone following him. Zimmerman wa...

Let me know if this sounds familiar: a group of marginalized individuals fight for their equality, they get a month, a week, a day dedicated to their fight, and then others cry out, “What about us?” If we have Black History Month, someone asks, “What about white history month?” If there’s an international women's day, people ask, “What about men’s day?” June is pride month; it’s a time dedicated to encouraging members of the LGBTQ community to express themselves openly. June is meant to celebrate their accomplishments and acknowledge the struggles faced by the LGBTQ community. A writer, Rachel Brougham , says, “ I have a lot of questions, the main one being: Since when do straight people need space to embrace their straightness? Don’t straight people own that space 24/7, 365 days a year already — even during Pride Month?” But, of course, there are people yelling, “What about straight people?”   One specific event a month ago took us back about a century in ter...

Design by Karina Delgado | tolerance.org #IfIDieInASchoolShooting: The Origin of a Movement Following the 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas,   which was only a few months after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, college freshman Andrew Schneidawind started a hashtag to express his concern with the unsettling increase in school shootings across the United States. His hashtag, #IfIDieInASchoolShooting, soon went viral, and thousands of Americans used it to discuss their anxieties and political concerns surrounding mass shootings, specifically in the school setting. The result was a national conversation about activism, gun reform, shooting trauma, and fears. I'm gonna try and get a hashtag trending called #IfIdieInASchoolShooting . If you wanna join, feel free. #IfIdieInASchoolShooting I will never be able to finish my animated TV series, I'll never be able to see my sister again, and I will have to become a martyr. #Neve...

#WorldSuicidePreventionDay Since the shocking loss of Robin Williams in 2014, we have seen the death of Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, Anthony Bourdain, and Kate Spade. These tragedies showed us that success, talent, money and apparent happiness are not necessarily what they look like from the outside. Suicide can’t be predicted, but it can be prevented with awareness and action. World Suicide Prevention Day is an awareness day that works to spread discourse and education on the topic of suicide. Every year on September 10, social media users can post their stories and messages of hope with the hashtag #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. This day aims to create awareness for the prevention of suicide. The holiday started in 2003 under the theme “Suicide Can Be Prevented.” The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Association for Suicide Prevention both organized the first World Suicide Prevention Day in 2003. While the #WorldSuicidePreventionDay hashtag ...