"How to use my voice" (June 2020)

"How to use my voice" (June 2020)

white allyship
social media

English

Slideshow created from screenshots of an Instagram story illustration that depicted how activist information might travel on social media.

@_nanders

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBD9IZbjxSj/?igshid=xtr1pwdif9lv

2020-06-05

Instagram

Matthew Salzano

1. black instagram
black activists
fairly woke non-black people 
semi woke white people
people posting about brunch
"not all cops"
white supremists [sic - supremacists]
2. my social media feed falls somewhere along these intersections
I don't interact with these people at all, and they don't interact with my content 
3. but some of my friends might occupy this intersection of the internet
4. and some of their followers might occupy this intersection of the internet
5. THE ONLY WAY TO GET INFORMATION DOWN THE CHAIN IS THROUGH A KIND OF GAME OF INFORMATIONAL TELEPHONE
6. EFFECTIVE
people that know more than me
(black organizers, intellectuals and individuals)
listening, learning, following instructions
people that know the same amount as me
me
Passing on information directly from black activists that they might not see
reaching out directly to have open and non judgemental conversations
Rephrasing knowledge to make it more accessible digestible 
people that know less than me 
(ex. older family members, childhood friends, former coworkers) 
7. EFFECTIVE 
people that know more than me 
(black organizers, intellectuals and individuals)
peer accountability for actionable steps 
(Most effective in a buddy system or small group text system) 
people that know the same amount as me
me
people that know less than me 
(ex. older family members, childhood friends, former coworkers) 
8. NOT EFFECTIVE 
people that know more than me 
(black organizers, intellectuals and individuals)
telling people my opinions without listening 
people that know the same amount as me
me
cancelling people before trying to engage with them 
people that know less than me 
(ex. older family members, childhood friends, former coworkers) 
9. NOT EFFECTIVE 
people that know more than me 
(black organizers, intellectuals and individuals)
reflecting knoweldge back to people who already know to prove that I "get it" 
aka virtue signalling 
people that know the same amount as me
me
people that know less than me 
(ex. older family members, childhood friends, former coworkers) 
10. ALSO NOT EFFECTIVE 
people that know more than me 
(black organizers, intellectuals and individuals)
listening to black leaders and not doing anything about it because I am paralyzed by my own fear of virtue signalling 
people that know the same amount as me
me
cancelling people before trying to engage with them 
people that know less than me 
(ex. older family members, childhood friends, former coworkers)

[people have been asking for a more shareable version of these infographics, so I’m going to slowly reformat/abridge them for my grid.] Like a lot of non-Black people I have been doing a lot of introspection this week about how to use my voice. Is reposting the same graphics and screenshots amplifying Black voices? Or is it virtue signaling? My feed is 99% content about BLM— is sharing similar content redundant? Is redundancy effective or distracting? Why should I, as someone who as not finished unlearning white supremacy, offer any insights into a matter I am not an expert in?
My current thoughts are: I am not my most radical friend. I am not who I would turn to for knowledge about these issues. But— I am some of my friends’ most radical friend, and the person in their life they are able to ask for resources. We all have access to the same internet, but everyone is experiencing their own personal internet. Our social groups are overlapping circles, not singular bubbles. (Full, unabridged stories are saved in my highlights)

There are 10 slides. The first 5 feature a peach background with multicolored circles linked together in a chain. The latter five have an orange background with text guided by arrows.

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