Written by Sophia Reyes
The year 2020 marks a drastic shift in the political climate both locally and across the globe. In the span of a year, we have collectively moved past raising awareness for current and persisting issues and are now navigating the steps and modes of taking action, all while the world stays quarantined and socially distanced, leading people to take protests online.
The death of George Floyd in May 2020 sparked the long-overdue Black Lives Matter movement not only in the United States but everywhere else, bringing to light the ways in which systemic racism is deep-rooted. This has also brought about a keener awareness and a more widespread rejection of the police system and the brutality those who are at the bottom of the food chain are most vulnerable to. In our specific context, these people are farmers, labor workers, activists, and those living in poverty.
In addition, the government’s poor COVID response has not only highlighted their incompetence and their past culpability, but also how the officials use this to their advantage and continue to resort to violence as pushed by the Anti-Terror Law in order for them to keep having the upper hand.
Circumstances like these have prompted the rise of other modes of activism such as online rallies all over platforms like Twitter and publication materials shared on Instagram, which has made the spread of information easier, even for those who don’t typically keep up with such things. In response to this, many point out the toll this takes on one’s well-being, and this is of course, a genuine concern, one that should remind us to maintain a balance regarding our intake of news and not serve as a way to avoid what happens outside of our bubble.
Another aspect people point out is the harmful performativity that “woke culture” has cultivated, and this is a discussion that has gone on for quite some time now. Though there is certainly a problem with how this tends to be accusatory or aggressive, being constantly conscious and stopping to question our intentions and what we truly believe in instead of following the crowd is always productive.
It is crucial to remember that activism should not end at making a thread about a particular happening or reposting an infographic, but rather the importance of participating in on-ground mobilizations and contributing what we can to help even just by donating what we can, not to charities or big organizations, but to those within our reach, such as people we come across setting up fundraisers and the local community pantries that have recently grown in number across the country.
The withstanding point is to remain critical and vigilant, and to attempt to take our words and actions offline and into the physical world where it is needed most in order for it to be truly of value, and truly genuine.
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