On This Juneteenth Please no Social Media Warriors
I cannot stand you “Social Media Warriors.” The people who have twitter fingers when it comes to social injustice.
There are some people out there that really think they are standing up for a cause with a retweet, repost, share, or by talking about it.
They feel like they are truly ambassadors for all the social injustice done towards the black community.
There are really people out here thinking that they’re doing the Lord’s work with a comment or repost, and I for one will not stand for it.
These are the people that feel like they are standing on the front lines as they sit on their couches, and then some of these same people have the audacity to call out people who aren’t doing anything to fight against the cause.
If you feel as though you’re changing the world with a repost, then by all means repost until your heart’s content. But to then act as though you’re the next Malcolm X because you did the bare minimum is where I have to step in.
You are not the next Malcolm X, you are not going above and beyond, and you deserve no credit for doing what millions already do on the daily basis.
You can share the information any way that you see fit, but in my opinion the work does not stop there.
Are you petitioning, are you trying to reach out to people in your community, are you trying to reach out to the people in charge, are you donating money to the right causes, are you raising money for the right causes.
There are a plethora of options when it comes to combating social injustice, and far too many people take the easiest route of all.
I’d be lying if I said I am in fact a Social Justice Warrior. I’d be lying if I said that I am the most active when it comes to fighting against acts done against the black community.
I can admit that.
You won’t see me going to social media and chastising people based on how they decided to address the issue.
If someone who is CONSISTENTLY involved with combating issues in the black community called me out to complain about my inactivity, it wouldn’t pose an issue to me.
BUT I’LL BE DAMNED if a Social Media Warrior were to press me on this. I would not stand for it.
That’s like someone making a dollar a month bragging about their wage to someone who makes zero dollars a month. Or like someone bragging that they can do one push up, while you can’t do any.
You’re both in virtually the same position, there isn’t much to brag about.
The arrogance that some of these people have, leaves me dumbfounded every time.
They sit there and post 10–12 articles or screenshots on the subject, write out these elaborate paragraphs explaining how wrong the people are, and about how we have to stand together. Then they simply close the application feeling accomplished.
Imagine.
They go to bed feeling as though they have substantially impacted their community. It’s sad.
Sharing the information and reposting the information is the first step, but that’s where the job starts, not ends. And if this is all the work that you want to do, then by all means do it, but do it and shut up about it.
Nobody cares about your long rants. We already know that the events are wrong and unjust, if you really care as much as your rants suggest then go out there and actually do something about it.
It’s important to share the information especially in this social media era, the more people that know about the problems the better.
The more people that know about the problem increases the likelihood of people actually doing something about it.
Just don’t make people feel bad for not reposting at the same rate you are, and take some accountability as to what is really being accomplished with what you’re doing.
I definitely find it unfair that a person not reposting anything while sitting on the couch will receive a lot more backlash than the aforementioned Social Media Warriors who are virtually doing the same thing.
If you’re going to hold the people who are inactive against the cause accountable then you must hold the Social Media Warriors to that same standard.
I remember on Juneteenth last year how a lot of people in the black community wanted to come together to celebrate due to the social injustice uproar.
I knew this would only be temporary.
I knew that once the social injustice outcry died down that there wouldn’t be as much urgency in making sure that Juneteenth and our struggles were brought to the forefront.
That’s another thing about you Social Media Warriors, you’re only a Warrior when it’s convenient. You only care about the cause when it’s trending.
Anybody can be confident speaking up about a topic in which the whole world is speaking on.
If you really care about those issues as your social media suggests, then you should be willing to fight for those issues year round.
Don’t just make a post when something goes awry, or just on Juneteenth, make those posts consistently backed by action. If you’re really about the life you’re portraying.
I’m sure that there were tons of people who didn’t even know what Juneteenth was until last year.
In my 25 years of living for the very first time, miraculously everyone knew what Juneteenth was and wanted to celebrate it in the grandest way possible.
Why is that?
It was due to the heinous crimes done against the black community at the time, coupled with the pandemic. The pandemic forced people inside to witness the acts against our community, which ignited the uproar.
People were forced to take notice as the streets were secluded, and public gatherings were disallowed. Things could no longer be avoided, or swept under the rug.
Last year on Juneteenth I saw a series of events thrown to celebrate Juneteenth, and as these events were transpiring I knew that those feelings of jubilation would be short-lived.
I knew that the main proponent behind those celebrations were only due to 2020’s unique circumstances. I knew that when social injustice returned to an afterthought that Juneteenth would follow suit.
I predicted this, there was no way that Juneteenth would be this popular a year from now.
I don’t think all the people that are Social Media Warriors realize that they are Social Media Warriors. Now here we are a year later and lo and behold the same angst to make sure that Juneteenth is just as celebrated if not more celebrated than July 4th is gone.
Do you have a tendency to only care about social injustice in the black community when things go awry, or when it’s the most prevalent, or when everybody else is doing it?
Do you have a tendency to post something about social justice and then immediately do nothing about that issue? Do you find yourself doing nothing to combat the problem more than just a repost?
If so, you too may be a Social Media Warrior.
Most people will talk a good game and do nothing about it.
So on this Juneteenth keep an eye out for those Social Media Warriors, and ask yourself, am I one of them?
