Is the revolution working?

If there’s one thing that I learned during my year of study abroad, it’s that black lives matter is a force to be reckoned with. From 5,000 miles away, at the bottom of the world, I knew exactly what was going on with this movement. It was so effectively publicized that even in my blissful bubble of abroad ignorance, I could not ignore that a social movement was changing the conversation in my country. One of the incredible things about this movement is the passion and strength that all of its members have, but as Daunasia Yancey spoke about, this is also a highly strategic movement. They have targeted presidential candidates just as lobbyists would do and they have more or less taken twitter by storm. Malcolm Gladwell however, would argue that there will be no revolution just from the great twitter takeover. He argues that true high risk activism cannot come from the bonds forged over twitter or other forms of social media, unlike the civil rights movement of the 60s where the call to arms came from your college roommate. I would argue that what Gladwell fails to see is that twitter can only really let you in on the information, show you the most superficial side of the movement, it’s the connections you make “IRL” that bring you to the revolution. I came home for two weeks during my time abroad, and before I had even made it back to the country, I had heard about the millions march in New York City. It was then that I decided to go, but it wasn’t until I made it to Washington Square Park, spoke with activists of the movement, and felt the energy in the freezing December air, that I could truly understand the scope of this campaign for change. So maybe Gladwell is right, and the revolution won’t be tweeted because social media really only reinforces the status quo and “makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for that expression to have any impact,” but maybe he’s wrong and this is a moment in history unlike any other.