Everyone’s an “activist.” We need more organizers.
gaytimes.co.ukThe breakdown between “activists” and “organizers” for our justice column LET’S MAKE SOME GOOD IN THE WORLD WORDS BY ELIEL CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHY BYClaude TRUONG-NGOC (Ctruongngoc) Sometime in the 2000s, many became an “activist” for simply speaking out about injustice.
In the wake of the 2020 uprisings, now everyone is an “activist,” at least in their Instagram bio. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as every person with a conscience should use their platform to advocate for good in the world, but this also allows many — celebrities, authors, musicians, influencers — to co-opt activism’s ethos for their personal brand by doing what I’d call the bare minimum.
As the conversations on white supremacy, oppression, and systemic issues came to the surface in recent years, an expectation has grown for everyday people, regardless of their social following size, to use their platform to speak out on the trending injustice.
As I’ve written before, “Our social media accounts are extensions of the ways we interact, learn, and connect with each other.