[Air-L] A good way to respond to a query from a student about activism?

Sat Jun 6 18:08:22 PDT 2020

Dear Sarah and friends,

Just to add my 2 cents, questions of what there is to do or left to do in
online spaces is danting.

I've also spent a lot of time in contemplation on how to even begin to
respond. I've also, frankly, been in mourning.

I think one of the things we're forced to do, unfortunately, is to depend
on the marginalized to figure out what to do and tell us. Clearly that's an
impossible task, but if we've learned anything from say-- South Africa's
Truth and Reconciliation project is the power of narratives to frame
experiences.

So, maybe, one thing we can do is share stories-- both as PoC and as white
folks-- of all the ways in which we've failed and succeeded. Maybe that's
one way in which social media can be useful.  Second, if we believe
anything we've been taught or researched, then we believe that there is
power in circulating discourses. It's not merely convincing racists to give
up their ways-- but changing the environment.  In fact, isn't that what
Trump did? He normalized racism. Just maybe there's a way to normalize
compassion.

Sam
------
Sam Srauy, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Digital Media and Production Coordinator
Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations
Oakland University
248.370.4352

On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 1:04 PM Natalie Rock <drnatalierock at gmail.com> wrote:

> I also don’t have the answers but wanted to share a free webinar link for
> academics who are struggling with these questions too.
>
>
>
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> > On 6 Jun 2020, at 09:14, Nishant Shah <itsnishant at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Sarah,
> > Thank you for sharing this note with us. It was powerful and led to
> > introspective silence for me. I was deeply in awe of the kind of pedagogy
> > that inspires your students to reach out to you asking for more, and also
> > in respect for students who see their roles as change actors and are
> > creating these structures of intervention. I was a little hesitant in
> > stepping into the conversation because I do not have immediate solutions
> or
> > the correct answers; also my own context with one foot in India and one
> in
> > the Netherlands, is very different from the one you occupy. I starred the
> > conversation hoping there will be more people sharing their wisdom and
> > experience, and I would learn from it.  Steven's mail reminded me that
> even
> > though this isn't so much a 'community', it is still a 'safe space'
> enough
> > for me to share some of what I have been doing through my work in
> > community organisation and civil society action, working with young
> people,
> > sometimes, also with my students. Though, like Radhika, I would have
> > preferred, perhaps, to have this conversation in a less public forum,
> > because, while I appreciate this mailing list and the conferences, and
> the
> > different opportunities it consolidates, very frankly, it has never felt
> > like a receptive space for voices that do not fit into the US-American
> > education systems and registers. Past experiences have made me in a
> lurker,
> > where I have instead connected with people off-the-list, and found it
> more
> > productive.
> >
> > However, in these uncertain times, as things are shifting, I am happy to
> > 'un-lurk' and engage with this question, partly through speculation,
> partly
> > through practice, and partly through my own organisation.
> >
> > In the last couple of years, because I also had an administrative
> position
> > within the university, the number of students (and often faculty) who
> > reached out asking for operational advice and discussions has also
> > increased, and I have learned a few things, three of which might help you
> > in responding to the student as well.
> >
> > 1. I have learned that when students and colleagues reach out, asking for
> > what more can we do together, what more can they do together, they are
> not
> > merely coming to seek information. They often have creative and tentative
> > plans that they are not sure would be feasible. It helps me a lot to make
> > them the owners of the question (not the answer) and see what they think
> > could be the avenues of intervention. Often, I find my role as an
> > facilitator and a sound-board helping to sometimes crystalise and
> sometimes
> > materialise the actions they have already imagined or are thinking
> through.
> >
> > 2. One thing that my communities have appreciated is that I also
> > immediately step in to make sure that the person asking the question is
> > being cared for, and has the resources to cope with what they are
> > experiencing. Often, with students, they have not thought of the
> material,
> > emotional, and intellectual resources which would keep them safe as they
> > take up the risks of activism and intervention. I do have communities and
> > resources within which they could find some of this material, and I also
> > help them to find the resources within the university, to make sure that
> > their work is sustainable and supported.
> >
> > 3. In this particular instance, because the spectrum of the current
> > world-on-fire politics is so large, it might be helpful to offer to have
> a
> > chat with the student and see what they see their role as. From my own
> > experience in online organising, I would also guide them to the larger
> > groups, collectives, and communities that are already in action and urge
> > them to pool resources rather than trying to start something on their
> own.
> > It would also be useful to help 'localize' their 'social media' actions
> and
> > see if they can situate themselves in the immediate physical environments
> > and identify where the blind spots or missing gaps are. One of their
> > expertise is critical cultural and digital analysis and they might be
> able
> > to review and analyse the ongoing campaigns and see where they might be
> > able to step in.
> >
> > And at the back of my head, in all these conversations, I have the voice
> of
> > a young activist who doesn't like being named and tagged on social media,
> > so I will respect their privacy, but something they had told me a long
> time
> > ago was powerful: Before you set out to save the world, make sure the
> world
> > needs saving and it needs you to do the saving.
> >
> > I hope that this might be fruitful in thinking through how to respond to
> > the query in particular, but also perhaps expand the question of 'social
> > media for positive change' to 'social media actors and their actions' for
> > meaningful transformation.
> >
> > Warm regards,
> > Nishant
> >
> >> On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 4:18 PM Jones, Steve <sjones at uic.edu> wrote:
> >>
> >> Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
> >>
> >> When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her
> >> query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in
> with
> >> any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing
> >> support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those
> >> calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be
> >> held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck
> of
> >> a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better
> >> ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else
> >> who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
> >>
> >> It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been
> >> nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive
> >> committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and
> a
> >> reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are
> other
> >> places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become
> >> more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But
> there
> >> are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single
> response
> >> to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
> >>
> >> Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged
> in
> >> discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and
> >> yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S.
> >> Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that
> the
> >> black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that
> >> all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit
> to
> >> racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from
> various
> >> individuals and  institutions as too little, too late, or
> opportunistic, or
> >> as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices,
> plain
> >> and simple: Black Lives Matter.
> >>
> >> We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even
> say
> >> we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other
> >> expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_
> >> about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to
> >> discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive
> >> social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss
> some
> >> other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming
> and
> >> engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s
> show
> >> who we are and what we can do.
> >>
> >> Peace and good health to all,
> >>
> >> Steve
> >>
> >>>> On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates at umd.edu> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Dear AOIRers,
> >>>
> >>> I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the
> message
> >>> below from a student I taught in an online social media and society
> >> course,
> >>> in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a
> better
> >>> way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I
> >> was
> >>> impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's
> >>> what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening
> both
> >> to
> >>> see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in
> >>> advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was
> >>> great.
> >>>
> >>> Here is her message:
> >>>
> >>> As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is
> >> happening
> >>> in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened
> >> to
> >>> see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and
> >>> reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to
> these
> >>> images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and
> >>> forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
> >>>
> >>> *... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action
> beyond
> >>> social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort
> of
> >>> "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among
> >> mutual
> >>> followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want
> >> to
> >>> do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on
> >> Twitter.
> >>> If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage
> >>> social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about
> >> them!*
> >>>
> >>> Sarah Oates
> >>> Professor and Senior Scholar
> >>> Philip Merrill College of Journalism
> >>> University of Maryland
> >>> College Park, MD 20457
> >>> Email: soates at umd.edu
> >>> Phone: 301 455 2332
> >>> www.media-politics.com
> >>> Twitter: @media_politics
> >>>
> >>> *Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund
> >>> <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding>
> today.
> >> *
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
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> >> http://www.aoir.org/
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dr. Nishant Shah (Ph.D.)
> > Professor, Aesthetics & Cultures of Technology, Director Research
> > ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands.
> > Knowledge Partner, Digital Earth Project, Hivos
> > Mentor, Feminist Internet Research Network, APC
> > https://nishantshah.online
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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