Kony 2012?

The Gladwell article raised interesting questions about social media and its influence on social activism.  The Kony issue that caught fire via social networking is a recent example.  The warlord got the attention of 87.5 million-plus people via the YouTube video produced by the American NGO "Invisible Children." Everyone was talking about it.  It was on all the news stations and when one of the other warlords was convicted of criminal actions in the World Court it also kept the interest flowing.  However, as I mentioned in a previous blog, it seems to have lost its momentum with many of those who discovered it and reacted to it only through the social media.  Gladwell argues that the strong-tie phenomenom that was present with the Greensboro lunch counter sit-in members is not present with those who engage through social media.  I would agree. 
Saturday morning my family members and I discovered that we had a Kony 2012 poster attached to both our front door and to the tree in our front yard. Across the street from our house was a huge poster of the same.  We don't know where they came from.  My daughter sent money to the cause and isn't sure if that was the connection.  Anyway, most of my neighbors were unsure what the poster meant.  It is a very unique statment with both the GOP elephant and DNC donkey blended to show this is not about politics.  But where is this cause going?  I am not sure.  I do know that the US has sent troops to help the African Union track Kony down but not sure if even half the 87.5 million who connected with the video are still aware of any of the LRA leader's current situation or about how he is believed to be on the run but not stopping his mission as he moves eastward. 
So I think that though social media does get the word out and bring awareness, like Gladwell stated, it does not involve the high risk activism that is necessary to see the campaign through to its success. 
The Greensboro students had the courage of their convictions.  Kony internet followers don't need that kind of courage.

Social Media Gives Needed "Invisibility"

Gladwell speaks to the need for a strong-tie phenomenon to have a long-term successful campaign of social activism.  I agree.  I think that social media networks have enabled people to hide behind the facade of networking because they do not have strong personal ties with most the entirety of the people they have "friended."  In this way one can say or do whatever, whenever, and never really feel any viable risk.  The passion that was present during the Civil Rights Movement, some may argue, was present in bringing awareness to the warload, Kony, and the Invisible children.  I believe that the networking that occurred as a result of this awareness campaign did create involvement, BUT as Gladwell has stated, this is low-risk involvement.  In my own household the "Kony" issue has not been spoken of for about two-three weeks.  Low risk involvement and lack of structure equal little risk and less sustained effort.  Social media is a tool that can raise awareness but the commitment factor seems to have a weak showing.

Battered Women's Movement

I asked my small group members if they knew anyone who had been battered.  They did not.  This could be for many different reasons.  (I wish I did not know violence first hand). What first struck me was the fact that I am the only female in my group and that they, as males, may be less aware of violence toward females.  We didn't get into why they didn't know anyone but it did strike me that perhaps it is because they are guys. Though this is a generalization there might be something to it.  The Women's Resource Center was established at CSULB in 1979.  It was originally the Women's Opportunity Center and was started by a group of  female students to address the inequities in women's status at the university and in the larger culture.  Battered women were just beginning to get funding for programs and shelters at this time.  The WRC today, as always, provides a safe place for women to seek information and one-on-one or group support for concerns like domestic violence, (October is Domestic Violence Awareness month) and sexual assault (April is Sexual Assault Awareness month).  Through programs like "Take Back the Night" and Project Safe" and the "Clothesline Project" they continue to assist women in oppressive situations.  Though there may not be someone you "know" that has been victimized, the victimization of women is happening all around you.  Last week the WRC provided a "Stalking Workshop"--this includes cyber-stalking which is more subtle but causes fear and victimization.  In our video we learned that so many imprisoned women have been victims of violence either/both as a child or as an adult.  This is a very tragic situation.  I would think that with today's economic recession, mortgage foreclosures, and high rate of poverty and unemployment that violence against women would be on the rise.  Tragically I grew up in a very patriarchal society where the Catholic church (especially in this rural area) controlled people's lives to a great extent.  Men ruled women and children and violence occurred and was even tolerated.  Women were NOT allowed to divorce because of the threat of excommunication from the Catholic church.  One women dared to divorce and was ostracized.  Women did not effectively step out of the bounds of patriarchy until the late 1970's. OUCH!!!.  I blame the church for allowing that kind of behavior to continue without a safety net for the victims.  (WWJD indeed!). I see a complacency among women (all ages) concerning women's issues.  I call them "women's issues" because I don't think guys really concern themselves with what women have to go through just walking on campus at night.  Women, as a group, have power to create a better world for themselves and which translates into a better world for all.  What do you think?  

Where do we draw the line?

After reading about the articles for today I was moved by my own memories of growing up in Minnesota.  I remember the stereotypes that existed.  We would travel past reservations in the summer on our way to the Canadian border cabin we stayed in.  The reservation living conditions were awful: tar-paper shacks that were so small and flimsy.  I also remember the comments about how the Indians would never amount to much because they were prone to laziness and alcoholism.  Great . . . my family were all racists.  Sad to remember that I grew up at a time when most Indians were not even allowed to vote because there were constant restrictions put on their access.  Sad to remember that separate was inherently unequal in the North as well as the South.  My grandmother would sew First Communion dresses for the Indian girls to wear as part of the Indian children's assimiliation to the Anglo Christian culture.  Wow. . . history matters!
The American Indian Movement, like the Civil Rights Movement has developed over time and with many steps but still, sadly, stereotypes persist.  An article in Monday's LA Times reveals how a man dug up the graves of Native Americans on Catalina Island for years and sold the remains for profit.  He even decorated the inside of his museum with the bones of the Indians: decorated the window and door frames with pieces of the skeletons.  We need to let the repatriation of Native American remains and objects go forward and allow some much needed healing.