SOCIAL JUSTICE – Page 13

Why companies were so quick to endorse Black Lives Matter

21Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Why companies were so quick to endorse Black Lives Matter

It’s not every day that you see companies switch gears on a dime. Not too long ago, few companies paid much attention to Black Lives Matter. Today, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, it seems as if most major companies including Apple, Amazon and Facebook have endorsed the movement – or at a minimum pledged millions of dollars to fight racism and vowed to do more to end discrimination in their workplaces. CC BY-ND So how did companies so swiftly decide to align with Black Lives Matter? As with anything, there usually are lots of reasons. But, as a scholar who studies the psychology of consumer behavior and how companies respond to it, I believe that one stands out: young people. A post-Floyd poll found that nearly 90% of members of Generation Z – those born from 1997 to 2005 – b...

Historically, White Americans Have Failed to See Racism as a Systemic Issue. Is That Changing?

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Historically, White Americans Have Failed to See Racism as a Systemic Issue. Is That Changing?

The first wave of the Black Lives Matter movement, which crested after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, had the support of fewer than half of White Americans. Given that Americans tend to have a narrow definition of racism, many at that time were likely confused by the juxtaposition of Black-led protests, implying that racism was persistent, alongside the presence of a Black family in the White House. Barack Obama’s presidency was seen as evidence that racism was in decline. The current, second wave of the movement feels different, in part because the past months of protests have been multiracial. The media and scholars have noted that Whites’ sensibilities have become more attuned to issues of anti-Black police violence and discrimination. After the first wave of t...

Finding And Supporting Black-Owned Businesses

10Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Finding And Supporting Black-Owned Businesses

Finally, we have the world’s attention, which is important for #BlackLivesMatter and Black-owned businesses. And the big question is “How do I find Black-owned businesses?” Yes, Blackout Day 2020, powered by OneUnited Bank, was a huge success. According to Yelp’s Economic Average Report, during the 2nd quarter 2020, there were more than 2.5 million searches for Black-owned businesses on Yelp, compared to only 35,000 in 2019, an increase of more than 7,000%. Searches for Black-owned restaurants increased more than 2,500% and Black-owned bookstores over 1,400%. Because of the surge, Yelp announced it will offer a new tool for businesses to identify themselves as Black-owned. So how do you find Black-owned businesses? Here are 7 ways to find Black-owned businesses that are owned and managed...

5 takeaways from MacKenzie Scott’s $1.7 billion in support for social justice causes

3Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

5 takeaways from MacKenzie Scott’s $1.7 billion in support for social justice causes

The author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has announced that she’s disbursed nearly US$1.7 billion to 116 organizations, since first publicly discussing her giving intentions in May of 2019. Most of the organizations aim to advance racial, gender and economic equity, are dedicated to dealing with climate change, support democracy or are tied to other generally progressive causes. In the public blog post she wrote to break the news, Scott encouraged donors of all financial means to join her. Previously known as MacKenzie Bezos, before her divorce from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the philanthropist also announced that from now on she’ll be using her middle name as her new last name. She left it up to the causes she’s funding to reveal precise totals for each gift. Howard Universi...

Instead of demonising Black Lives Matter protesters, leaders must act on their calls for racial justice

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

Instead of demonising Black Lives Matter protesters, leaders must act on their calls for racial justice

The intensification of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US in recent months has led to radical reform and action. The police officers responsible for the killing of George Floyd were all charged with serious offences, including one with second-degree murder. The city of Minneapolis voted to replace its police force with a “new system of public safety”, while other cities have slashed their police budgets. Demands for judicial and police reform in Australia The BLM and Stop First Nations Deaths in Custody protests across Australia since early June have similarly called for charges against police officers and prison guards responsible for deaths in custody, as well as an end to racialised police violence. Another major protest is scheduled for today in Sydney amid warnings from Prime...

Companies are struggling to engage with today’s activists – a new survey explores why

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Companies are struggling to engage with today’s activists – a new survey explores why

Dozens of companies with no track record of activism have made statements in recent weeks in support of Black Lives Matter following what I believe is unprecedented pressure from racial justice protesters. It may have come as a surprise to some – given just a couple months ago corporate America showed little interest in the Black Lives Matter movement – but to me and my colleagues at the USC Center for Public Relations, it made sense. Earlier this year, we conducted a global survey on what we dubbed the “new activism.” At the time, we were aware that activism was a growing force in American society but couldn’t have predicted the topic would become so relevant so soon. Only a few months later, the brutal killing of George Floyd in late May sparked an eruption of activism on the streets o...

Urban planning as a tool of white supremacy – the other lesson from Minneapolis

27Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Urban planning as a tool of white supremacy – the other lesson from Minneapolis

The legacy of structural racism in Minneapolis was laid bare to the world at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street, the location where George Floyd’s neck was pinned to the ground by a police officer’s knee. But it is also imprinted in streets, parks and neighborhoods across the city – the result of urban planning that utilized segregation as a tool of white supremacy. Today, Minneapolis is seen to be one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. But if you scratch away the progressive veneer of the U.S.‘s most cyclable city, the city with the best park system and sixth-highest quality of life, you find what Kirsten Delegard, a Minneapolis historian, describes as “darker truths about the city.” As co-founder of the University of Minnesota’s Mapping Prejudice project, Deleg...

Black men face high discrimination and depression, even as their education and incomes rise

22Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Black men face high discrimination and depression, even as their education and incomes rise

Are you a highly educated and relatively wealthy Black man in the U.S.? Studies that we have done and also those by others show that you are at increased risk of discrimination and depression. Our research on the intersection of race and gender in the U.S. shows that while education and income reduce the risk of discrimination and depression for whites and Black women, this is not so for Black men. This underscores other research we have done that suggests Black men are especially singled out as dangerous, threatening and inferior. The first author, Shervin Assari, is a physician and an associate professor of family medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. Many of his studies have documented that black men still face depression, which could stem from discrimination,...

Confederate flags fly worldwide, igniting social tensions and inflaming historic traumas

17Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Confederate flags fly worldwide, igniting social tensions and inflaming historic traumas

The United States isn’t the only country debating Confederate symbols. The Confederate flag can be seen flying in Ireland, Germany, Brazil and beyond. Sometimes, the red-white-and-blue-crossed flag is seemingly displayed as kitsch, a kind of Americana. Brazil’s ‘Festa Confederada.’ Organizers say the annual event celebrates their Southern American heritage, but some Black Brazilians disagree. Jordan Brasher, CC BY-SA Other times, its display conveys a political meaning more reflective of the flag’s origins in the slave-holding, Southern American republic. Wherever the Confederacy crops up, controversy usually follows. My academic research as a cultural geographer traces how Confederate iconography gets stitched into the cultural fabric of places thousands of miles from the United States....

Smartphone witnessing becomes synonymous with Black patriotism after George Floyd’s death

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS, SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

Smartphone witnessing becomes synonymous with Black patriotism after George Floyd’s death

A flashbulb emits a high-pitched hum. A photograph of the legendary 19th-century abolitionist and newspaperman Frederick Douglass fades in on-screen. We hear the “Hamilton” alumnus actor Daveed Diggs before we see him. “What, to my people, is the Fourth of July?” Diggs asks in a plaintive voiceover, as a police siren and the opening chords of Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” clash aurally. ‘What, to my people, is the Fourth of July?’ In just two minutes and 19 seconds, the new Movement for Black Lives short film provides a highlight reel of African American oppression that spans 400 years. The juxtapositions are jarring in the Independence Day-themed video. A historic image of a Black toddler picking cotton slams into a modern picture of a masked Black boy marching...