My experience working with armed conflicts and humanitarian crises has shown me the disastrous effects that such views tend to have on the ground. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. When were in this mental place, it can feel easier to align ourselves with someone elses vision and framework that feels similar to our own. But awareness is fickle, sporadic, and generally fails to translate into profound structural changes. The process by which our movements transition leaders into celebrity revolutionaries is heavily based on race, skin tone, ability status, immigration status, English-speaking capability, income and gender presentation, prioritizing cis-gendered people. Thank you to the Michigan Student Power Network for giving me a space to unfold and explore these thoughts. To trot out an old clich, they talk the talk (boy, do they talk), but they refuse to walk the walk. But what are the consequences, and is this something we necessarily want to promote? Actor George Clooney has taken great interest in Darfur; Madonna and Oprah Winfrey have embraced the fight for girls education in Africa, while Angelina Jolie knocks at the doors of the major centers of power as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador to promote support for humanitarian relief. It can feel like just another huge, never-ending task on a long continually growing to-do list. You might find new friends among activists. Making the case for YES is Andrs Jimnez . Why is this Happening? So popular, the article claims, that superstardom seems to require some sort of alignment with a cause or even an entire country in need. Social media activism isn't dangerous - it's really powerful, but the lack of context makes it dangerous," she says. This is because many lacks of awareness to be able to resolve them. It erases away our humanity: our human complexities and contradictions; our human capacity for growth, change and transformation, our human capacity for both harm and love. Mia Mingus (IG). And, most importantly, why should you become involved? The ideas Im sharing here are grounded in stories, practices, and frameworks rooted in the transformative justice and disability justice frameworks, and from what Ive learned following the work of the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective, Transform Harm, Project NIA, API CHAYA, Emergent Strategy Ideation, Detroit Safety Team, Detroit Represent!, and so many others. I was involved with Invisible Children since 2006 but around 2009-2010, I had begun to see a major shit in their mission and strategies, which I no longer supported. . Finally, I found your closing remarks on what would be good to consider when getting involved in any cause very thought-provoking. Many argue that these campaigns do more harm than good by providing participants with a sense of satisfaction that they've taken an action without actually contributing to the cause. Celebrities speaking truth to power, rather than half-truths that may inadvertently serve the interests of power, may be a more promising way forward if celebrity advocacy is to lead to meaningful socioeconomic change. Not everyone needs to have charisma, and not everyone wants to or can be at the front of a room. These three reasons often feed into and perpetuate one another. With the embrace of complexity we are able to discover that the way we seek to approach and work within a conflict must be incredibly flexible and diverse. This pressure and relationship to funding often plays a significant factor in the development of an organizations culture, heavily influencing who non-profits hold themselves accountable to. I admired their ability to financially sustain themselves from their work before celebrating their contributions to principled struggle, and I was often more focused on their personal lifestyle choices rather than their commitment to liberation. While Milanos tweet brought the phrase to the mainstream, the movement gained momentum because the phrases creator Tarana Burke had long been doing the work of empowering sexual abuse and harassment survivors. Just like Obamas is. It requires continuous and committed effort to maintain collective decision-making and accountability systems, and existing in a social and economic structures that work against this generally leaves these efforts un or under-funded. We have to acknowledge celebrity culture and how it stretches well beyond formal celebrities and into our movements, organizations, groups, relationships just as punishment does. Rather, it is to critique an aspect of our movement culture; how we treat our leaders, the pedestals we build to place them on, and the ways this impacts our relationships to ourselves, each other, and our movements. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. I agree with the previous comments about appearing to paint all work done by famous personalities with the same brush. The videos portrayal of the over two-decade-long conflict had deeply angered many of those who had endured it firsthand. De Waal also argues that activism should speak to power, but also stand firmly against it, and should not presume that all change is possible from within. Activism Pros. DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. Just who I am. If only enough people knew and cared about a certain conflict or problem, the assumption goes, then the combined energy and support could be harnessed in order to trigger an immediate flood of solutions. The original version would have done more harm than good for the causes being showcased, two scholars argue. What better way to liberate ourselves from this burden than by taking up a global cause in a far-away land, and who better to show us the way to do it than our favorite celebrities? Leo Tolstoy once wrote to the effect: You sit on my back and oppress me, but assure me that you feel sorry for me and will do anything to alleviate my burden except get off my back! its not just celebrity activism that is unhelpful, its the behaviour you described in the article. I see the dynamics between large social movements and their leaders manifesting a certain category of leadership Ive recently been referring to as the celebrity activist; a leader who is idolized, placed on a pedestal, and generally engaged with through an ideology of individualism. Between the 1930s and 1950s, suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst fought for a fascist-free, and later independent, Ethiopia, and a few decades later Bob Geldof and Band Aid raised 30m for the victims of the countrys famine. This issue is defined and analyzed thoroughly in the report, 12 Recommendations for Detroit Funders, put together by Allied Media Projects and the current Design Team of the Transforming Power Fund, a community-led fund that, through practice, is creating a template to address some of the funding issues named above. And, most importantly, why should you become involved? Worse yet, we may even start to feel as though proving our commitment to a social issue, or to our communitys wellness requires us to suffer for our work, that celebrating or experiencing joy or fun is somehow a betrayal to our community, an idea articulated by Laura Van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk in their book, Trauma Stewardship. They are currently part of a collective living project, Brick & Mortar Collective, as well as a creative disability justice collective, Relentless Bodies. Andres Jimenez is a conflict-transformation facilitator, a trainer in nonviolent methods of conflict resolution and an international conflict analyst. I want to see us hold ourselves and our leader in the full potential of each others humanity, something I do not see us doing when we place individuals on pedestals, refusing to hold space for potential mistakes, let-downs, and harm we all of the potential to cause. These people are the Nicholas Kristofs and the Jeffry Sachses of the world who often find their self-assurance and sense of certainty in their Ivy League educations, in the power that their positions grant them or in the titles that they hold. This article includes content hosted on counter.theconversation.edu.au. Celebrity activists can be a link between people in the West and distant tragedies. Its easy for us to support #metoo advocates and survivors of abuse until it interferes with our campaign plans, our community events, our organizational structure. We need to distance ourselves from the powerful desire to follow simple solutions drafted by experts in conference rooms half a world away. They also model tenderness, fierceness, and tenacity to achieve healing for their communities and realize solutions that will bring us to a liberatory future. The Independent. They also come out of personal experience with social dynamics Ive witnessed, been impacted by, and been a participant of that I believe would strengthen our social justice movements to change. Powered by Tom, Hamish & Aaron. Yet if the cycle of simplified celebrity messages leading to ineffective even harmful African policy is to be broken, genuine engagement with, and commitment to, the people they advocate on behalf of is critical. Not only this, but in these idealized perceptions of individuals, we often disconnect from the reality that even in their greatness, our leaders (now celebrities) still hold the potential to cause harm as we all do. I want to see us reject individualist, celebrity culture, and lean into exploring what collectively-led and community-defined liberation might look like for all of us. When those organizations inevitably fail to live up to our expectations, we revert to celebrating specific individuals who we see embodying our values. Each year has a different theme, and this years was the impact of global warming. Ojha and Bloomer also state that spreading awareness through social media is limited to a person's followers and the people the . 65 years ago, the Golden Rule ignited protests that led to a partial ban on nuclear weapons testing. Actor George Clooney has taken great interest in Darfur; Madonna and Oprah Winfrey have embraced the fight for girls education in Africa, while Angelina Jolie knocks at the doors of the major centers of power as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador to promote support for humanitarian relief. At that point, responses to unaddressed trauma and burn out had expanded into frequent panic attacks and migraines, dangerous weight loss, and rashes developing under my eyes and on my chest among other symptoms. I am excited for us to continue this work. Before and while I was burning out, whether or not I was willing to admit it, I frequently perceived the accomplishments of certain individual leaders as purely individual efforts and achievement. To find articles by the same author, please click on the name. If you undermine your argument, why should I buy it? Away from the fantasy world of easy-to-understand, black-and-white, single-story views of a conflict lays a world of complexity, depth and uncertainty. Nobody likes being lectured by a hypocrite, and its the Earth thats losing out in the process. The rise of the digital saviour: can Facebook likes change the world? Activists do more harm than good to their cause. As Mingus states in her quote found above, this pushes us back into binary thinking. In this case, the endless runny nose results from irritation of the nasal lining, a spongy membrane that . I realized that, of course, they were talking about the launch of the first Kony 2012 video campaign by the U.S.-based organization Invisible Children. Theyre able to get exposure in a different light because social media is so prevalent and pervasive in todays world.. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Celebrity eco-activism really undermines the cause, and thats a truly harmful consequence. It can look like us applauding our leaders for not caring for themselves, for not taking breaks, for suffering, a capitalist, ableist perspective on productivity that reverberates out into our movements and communities. This often leaves us as followers believing that we somehow have to find a way to become, reinvent, or evolve ourselves into the movement leaders we admire all on our own; No frameworks, no guidance, no rest, and no mistakes. facebook. . We should begin, above all, by focusing on the creative energy already present among the local actors in a conflict in order to discover context-specific strategies that can help us to transform it. Use photos or images only if you are certain they are in the creative commons or have received permission from us. As Ive delved into these issues, I found a great resource in the book Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement edited by Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi-Piepzna-Samarasinha which shares occurrences of this harm as well as instances of transformative community response. As I listened to the mens account of how the crowds anger turned to violence, I could hardly keep myself from thinking how emblematic and representative such an event was of countless celebrity-fueled, do-good awareness campaigns that I had already had the misfortune to witness over the years. The world of social media was a little quieter than usual on Wednesday: Celebrities ranging from Kim Kardashian West to Mark Ruffalo froze their Instagram accounts for 24 hours, to protest hate speech and misinformation being spread on Facebook, Instagrams parent company. The videos portrayal of the over two-decade-long conflict had deeply angered many of those who had endured it firsthand. It doesnt have to be instead of falling down that slippery slope, you could also choose to investigate capitalism, which is the ultimate cause of most of these disasters in the first place. In particular, I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciations for Sariah Metcalfe, Ian Matchett, Teiana McGahey and Owolabi Aboyade for your support, input, and collaboration, and for being continuous thought partners with me in a struggle towards liberation. Celebrity activists provide us with a powerful outlet for our guilty consciences and our self-serving views of history. So, to protect myself, consciously or not, I left this space out. Their organizing efforts have focused on gender justice, labor, environmental justice. When we mainly value our work by how visible it is to another person, or how others view our work in relation to someone elses, it becomes easy to lose touch with ourselves, making it difficult for us to identify and trust our own experiences, and capabilities. She points to the way the hashtag #MeToo went viral when used in a tweet by Alyssa Milano. I do not want to see us move into a way of relating which is defined by potential for harm. May not always be peaceful. The tragedy behind these sorts of campaigns is that they are motivated by the belief that problems around the world remain unresolved due to the lack of international awareness of their existence or global commitment to resolve them. Arrogant, patronising activism can come from anyone not also actively working on their own liberation. In addition to everything named here, applying celebrity culture to our movement spaces weighs heavily on how much and if we value care, healing, and other under-recognized and historically-feminized work including logistics planning, cleaning and space-creating, etc. This can look like expecting our leaders to always be available, always be working, to conflate our leaders with their work, to view them as incomplete without it. One way is a disinvestment in ones own capabilities and potential. These campaigns give everyday people a chance to do something larger than themselves, but there has to be online and offline goals and objectives, Tyree says. (A Facebook spokesperson told the New York Times on Tuesday that it had no comment about the situation.). Celebrity-led campaigns do often prove to be highly successful in generating broad public support. I see continually see a massive gap between what is internationally applauded and promoted, and what the local communities actually want, need, or even find relevant. email There are far too many climate hypocrites to list, but here are a few recent examples. In 2017, superstar Rihanna spent a significant amount of time educating her fanbase on the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. 18. They too often obscure the complex dynamics of power and socioeconomic relations in favour of a simple, catch all, solution. Here are some powerful examples of the complexities of intervening in international conflicts which might help you better understand the point I tried to make in the article: http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/whats-wrong-with-the-bill-gates-bono-approach-to-saving-the-world.html, http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/10/is_george_clooney_helping. Learn how your comment data is processed. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Waging Nonviolence is a nonprofit organization and all donations are tax deductible. Oprah Winfrey at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley-on-Klip, South Africa. And Im sure we could come up with others that are more recent. Conclusion: In your concluding paragraph, restate your thesis or overall opinion of the analyzed articles and the author's conclusion, and offer additional thought on the topic not presented in the articles. What better way to liberate ourselves from this burden than by taking up a global cause in a far-away land, and who better to show us the way to do it than our favorite celebrities? Peace and justice organizations, as well as universities, publish their own independent content on Waging Nonviolence. Which leaders we do and do not select into celebrity status is connected also to visibility and absolutely intertwined with oppressive structures. He lives and works in San Jose, Costa Rica. Paul Cullen Partnerships. We also have to put the mirror to ourselves and understand that this is really a reflection of who we are as a society.. Our movements have experienced this over and over. This tends to fracture our movements, creating a culture that rewards individualism and aggressive competition and under-recognizes collaboration. Perhaps we should also highlight some good examples of activist celebrities. Our fascination with pre-packaged solutions and our short attention spans are incompatible with appreciation for true complexity, humility and unpredictability. Celebrity-led campaigns do often prove to be highly successful in generating broad public support. Activism Cons. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/magazine/12wwln-idealab-t.html?_r=4& http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/16/haiti-aid-ngo, http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/05/21/185801589/episode-460-its-hard-to-do-good, http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/not-click-away-joseph-kony-real-world, Being told that you have an urgent responsibility to act in order to help solve a conflict that you hardly even knew existed in the first place is the first step down a slippery slope of continuous despair, wasted goodwill and neo-colonialism.. The gesture is nice, but Thunbergs choice hurts the environment more. In this piece, Im specifically referring to dynamics within social justice movements in the United States. Lets invest in building movements that support the needs and value the participation of parents, low and minimum-wage workers, people who rely on public transportation, and people with disabilities. Activism may go too far. Excellent article, Andres. After all, social media is programmed to de-center collective efforts, and hyper-fixate on individual achievements. twitter What Im asking in this piece is for movement leaders, not movement celebrities. 2023 Copyright The Boar. My new friends began to describe how there had been a massive gathering in the stadium for the screening of a video put together by a foreign NGO. Our fascination with pre-packaged solutions and our short attention spans are incompatible with appreciation for true complexity, humility and unpredictability. TMS Edtior receives prize for Peace and Social Justice, TRANSCEND Track Record on Conflict Solution 19582018. Many organizations are also functioning under leadership structures that are not elected or clear, and do not offer safe ways to challenge decisions made by directors and other organizational leads whose main work relationships are usually with funders and other organizational leads. It may be convenient for a while, giving us a fabricated sense of security, but I fear as we continue to collectively refuse to hold these uncomfortable truths, and include them in the image we build of our leaders ultimately, we are opening gaps for potential harm to go unacknowledged, and are creating opportunities for our communities to disempower, silence, and neglect those speaking out against harm caused by our leaders. According to Tyree, however, that power can only be realized if the campaign also exists offline. . if interventions do more harm than good most of the time - then things are even easier: have a high prior for opposing . Whether its Black Lives Matter or the #MeToo movement, people are taking to social media to voice their opinions and really call attention to some of the issues that have been problematic in U.S. society in past years and now, Tyree says. . When you post an image with a tag on, say . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. So, what effect does this designation of celebrity activist have on our ability to both hold leaders accountable and grasp their humanity? Your email address will not be published.
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