What the Troy Davis Case Reveals About Digital Activism

September 22, 2011 Leave a Comment

Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis was executed Sep. 21 after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour request to block the execution.  Davis was convicted of killing off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989.  It was a somber conclusion to a recently launched social media campaign led by Amnesty International and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which garnered international support for Davis.

While the online campaign to save Davis’ life failed, there are some digital activism ideas to take away from this situation.

1. Social Media wasn’t used correctly in this case.  Flip the Media’s Jonathan Cunningham made some great points about the lack of online clout:

…Many of the people retweeting petitions and posting notices on their social media accounts had never heard of Davis until a week ago — or less. Reading and signing a physical petition, or writing a parole board takes effort and research at the very least. Retweeting a petition for clemency in a capital murder case only takes dexterity in one finger as you click a button. Online activism, while noble and potentially powerful, typically involves the short-winded enthusiasm of the uninformed. If Troy Davis is the triggerman and he’s guiltier than sin, there would still be just as many wide-eyed folks on Twitter sending around links to save his life today. Frankly, that’s uneducated and unwise at the very least and potentially dangerous at the extreme…

2. Old school organizations finally learn new tricks.  After much complaining by many black bloggers, the NAACP has possibly found a way to be relevant to younger African-Americans through social media, while still upholding the values and traditions the venerable organization is best known for.

3. Social media isn’t always the cause of riots.  Unlike the recent riots in London, followed by Prime Minister David Cameron’s now recanted desire to ban social media, riots didn’t break out in black neighborhoods throughout the United States in light of the execution.  In the days leading up the execution date, many people online wondered if Twitter was purposely censoring any mention of Davis and hashtags #TooMuchDoubt or #TroyDavis from trending.  Some of us in the office speculated that if Twitter was in fact censoring, they were doing it to possibly prevent potential rioting.

4. Maybe more people will pay attention to more serious issues.  While all the retweets and rallies may not have saved Davis’ life, digital activism shows that it could be a tool to mobilize people to think about things more pressing than who “celebutante” Kim Kardashian is dating or who will appear on “Dancing with the Stars.”  Capital punishment is a very complex issue on many levels that needs to be addressed better by law enforcement, elected officials and the general public.  Our only complaint is that Amnesty International and the NAACP should have started a stronger social media campaign months ago instead of a week before the execution.  Not only would the general public have been better educated about Davis’ case, but possibly – just possibly – Davis would be alive today.

Filed under Americas, Blogs, E-petitions, Twitter, Video, YouTube Tagged with , , , , , ,

Haiti earthquake gets quick response online

January 13, 2010 Leave a Comment

Haiti was rocked Tuesday night by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. According to a report, Haiti’s First Lady Elisabeth Debrosse Delatour said that “most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed.”

While almost all phone lines have gone down on the impoverished island, Haitians have been able to communicate to friends and relatives around the world with the use of new media. Not only has there been a flurry of tweets and photos of the devastation posted online over night, but charitable individuals and organizations have responded quickly with their efforts to help victims.

Victims of the earthquake immediately got on Twitter, uploaded photos and YouTube videos and text messaged to give eyewitness reports on the tragedy like this one:

RAMHaiti: It’s 8:44PM and we’re still getting aftershocks!!I can hear people gathered in the distance singing prayers…people in large numbers are singing prayers downtown

In the last few hours charitable organizations have been able to make initial assessments of victims’ needs and have asked for donations, mostly through the use of digital tools.

Red Cross: Help Haiti right now, text Haiti to 90999 to give just $10 to the Red Cross

UNICEF: Donate now for Haiti on their website

Rap artist and activist Wyclef Jean was among the first to organize online when he sent out these tweets:

@wyclef Help Haiti by donating to Yele on www.yele.org follow @YeleHaiti

@wyclef Another way you can help Haiti after their 7.0 earthquake: Donate $5 by texting YELE to 501501 and by visiting www.YELE.org

News organizations that cater to Haitian communities in the United States have also taken the initiative to give their readers updated information about the earthquake’s aftermath, such as the Boston Haitian Reporter, which has been live-blogging since Tuesday night.

While a full assessment of the Haitian earthquake will be long term, this latest international incident shows the incredible value in digital activism for quick response and possibly saving lives.

Filed under Americas, Blogs, Mobile Phones, Online Journalism, Twitter Tagged with ,

Global Wire Interview: Women Tech Entrepreneurs

November 10, 2009 Leave a Comment

newnmwelogoThe first New Media Women Entrepreneurs Summit occurred yesterday with dozens of enterprising women – and a few men – thinking about the business side of the new cyber frontier. Following the summit, Global Wire talked to future tech entrepreneur Juliana Bozan of Brazil about creating Internet start-ups with a focus on social justice. Bozan came to the Summit to find inspiration.

Global Wire: Why is it important for more women to get involved in technology and entrepreneurship?

Juliana Bozan: I think it is really important for women to get online today because they are so many business opportunities. Women, especially in the developing world, are blogging and tweeting about issues that affect us. Just look at the Iranian protests last summer and the continuing human rights problems against women in the Middle East; many of the bloggers are women. Journalism outlets like CNN and BBC are using information on our blogs for free, and we see no profit. But now is the time to step our game, and figure out a way to create business opportunities for our words, video and audio.

GW: Tell me about your blogging experience?

JB: I used to write for a now defunct group blog for women in Brazil a couple of years back about “Brave Women,” where we would talk about problems women in the favelas like domestic violence, prostitution and single motherhood. It was great because everyone liked it and we have a lot of unique hits on the site, including from European journalism outlets. However, some of these journalism outlets reposted some of our blog posts, which was fine at first, but eventually we got tired of them taking our stuff without giving credit to our blog, the bloggers or even asking our permission to repost or paying us for reposting. We felt like we were being used, you know, like a new kind of colonialism. Since Western outlets are cutting back on having journalists in the developing world, they now seek out bloggers in countries they want to get information about. Unfortunately, it is very commonplace these days for Western journalism outlets take information from bloggers in the developing world and not give credit where credit is due.

GW: What are you hoping to take away from this Summit?

JB: I have met a couple of interesting people here who I would like to follow up within the next few days about getting help on writing a business plan. I want to look into starting an online newsletter or blog about Brazilian women social justice activists, but this time I want to look at having a better strategy for monetizing my site, so my writers will get payment and credit for their work. I would even consider having more formalized partnerships with journalism outlets.

GW: What advice do you have for other women tech entrepreneurs?

JB: Be strong, be confident and be smart about what you are doing. Don’t let others take advantage of you or tell you that you can’t do your own website. When you do that, you have failed before you’ve even gotten started.

Filed under Americas, Blogs Tagged with

Youth fight for food justice online

July 28, 2009 Leave a Comment

Photo by Umoja Community Builders
Photo by Umoja Community Builders

Last month the US Department of Agriculture released a report on food deserts – areas in the United States where communities lack access to supermarkets and other outlets selling foods necessary for a healthy diet. According to the report, 2.3 million Americans live more than a mile from a supermarket and do not have access to a vehicle. The report goes on to say that the “urban core areas with limited food access are characterized by higher levels of racial segregation and greater income inequality.” In short, this problem largely affects low income communities and people of color. In recent years, there have been efforts by food justice activists around the country to bridge the food gap. One group in Chicago is taking back the food system online.

The Umoja Student Development Corporation is a Chicago-based, youth development organization which runs a six-week summer program in partnership with youth media group Free Spirit to film a short documentary about food deserts in the predominately African American community of North Lawndale.

“In my neighborhood, there are no grocery stores,” said Porsha Treadwell, a student intern in Umoja’s community builders program. “It is unfair that my community doesn’t have the same access to healthy foods as other communities. It’s just not right.”

In addition to learning how to grow organic foods in community gardens and polling residents about their food shopping habits, the student interns have also kept a blog for the duration of the program about their own eating habits and the various social and environmental injustices that block access to food equity.

Also on the blog, the youth have created a slide show, displaying photos of themselves learning how to use cameras for their documentary.

Treadwell said this program has been a rewarding experience. She noted that she has had informative conversations with other residents about the food problem in the community, and how they now feel empowered to do something about it.

“When a community comes together, we can do powerful things,” she said.

Filed under Americas, Blogs, Video

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