#PhilanthroFriday: Social Media or Social Change – Which Works Best?
#PhilanthroFriday: Social Media or Social Change – Which Works Best?
by: Mamei Willie-Bongolo, Capital Cause PR Fellow
Hearts and minds across the country are in disarray. In recent news, there have been multiple occurrences of young, unarmed Black males being shot and killed by police officers. As troubling as this is, it is hardly a new phenomenon. A study conducted in 2012 revealed a Black man is killed in the U.S. every 28 hours by police. On August 9th, one more life succumbed to that gruesome statistic… that of 18 year-old Michael Brown of Ferguson, MO. His death has reignited both outrage and a national debate on the excessive use of force by police officers. According to a friend of Brown (Dorian Johnson), who was with him on that fateful day, Brown had turned around and raised his hands in the air before he was shot… contradicting law enforcement accounts of Brown having reached for the officer’s weapon during a struggle.
As concerned citizens took to various forms of protest, a campaign on social media spawned the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. The world now knows what major role social media can play towards spurring activism and social change. Consider the impact of grassroots efforts in Egypt, Tunisia, and recently Nigeria… with the #BringBackOurGirls effort. The secret lies in successfully pairing online campaigns with real-life action. The issues at the forefront of these campaigns are far too important to simply fizzle out in the World Wide Web.
Here’s our #PhilanthroFriday question for today: If social media can fuel social action, should philanthropy fuel social change? If so, then how so? If not, why not?
Young Philanthropist Comments:
“Peace Family, I think philanthropic organizations like Capital Cause can by helping to finance grassroots organizations that do not take corporate sponsorship. You cannot take corporate sponsorship and legitimately fight for the people.” – Salim Adofo
