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Showing Original Post only (View all)This is the New Civil Rights Movement and It Will be Digital [View all]
Ive been going to racial justice marches in New York City for nearly 20 years (for Abner Louima, for Amadou Diallo, for Sean Bell, for Ramarley Graham) and Ive never seen anything like the mass protests in response to Eric Garner. This gives me hope.
Protests like this one happened all over the U.S. With respect to Gil Scott Heron (who told us that The Revolution Will Not be Televised), this movement is and will be digital. More precisely, this new civil rights movement is spreading quickly because it is digitally augmented through Twitter, Vine, Instagram and other social media platforms. The movement is also, simultaneously, in the streets. It is both/and both digital and material at the same time. And this, too, gives me hope.
The both/and, digital/material feature of the new civil rights movement means several hopeful things.
It means that its both youth-led movement, and it is intergenerational. It means that its both youth-led and leaderless, in the traditional sense. It also means that it both circumvents and subverts legacy civil rights organizations that are now mostly corporate-funded or corporate-affiliated. It means that it is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic movement.
The both/and quality of the new civil rights movement means that while much of the organizing is happening online through websites like Ferguson Action, and email newsletters like thisisthemovement published by DeRay McKesson (@deray) and through Twitter hashtags #EricGarner #BlackLivesMatter #ShutItDown people have been showing up in the streets for 118 days now.
Video at the link.
http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2014/12/05/new-civil-rights-movement-digital/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+racismreview%2FnYnz+%28racismreview.com%29