It’s true in some ways that activism should be rising. The BLM protests were the biggest in US history, with estimates from 15-25 people million protesting. Yet despite the higher rate, little to nothing changed, just some meek genuflections toward police reform. Still, I remain slightly hopefully. All the online interaction has driven up verbal awareness or literacy. It was only a couple centuries ago that literacy was far lower globally than now, and only decades ago that global social engagement was extremely low. More people now can watch immediate clips of the civil war in Sudan, the eradication of Eastern Ukraine, or see the complete of devastation in Gaza and every citizen living in tent camps, and the unprovoked Israeli bombing of Syria. They can also see new parts of the world and positive interactions of daily life in China, Indonesia, or Ecuador and get a glimpse into places and daily life not possible 50 years ago.
So, I’ve got to remain a bit hopeful that global engagement is up and awareness higher than ever. Yes, our mainstream media is still gaslighting us by replacing racism with “hate”, making the topic of racial discrimination even more vague and undefined. But new media can challenge it and many people don’t even track or follow old media. With only a month to go to the inauguration, clinging to bits of hope is becoming more important for those in the opposition.
So try to have a happy new year.