{"id":341020,"date":"2017-05-16T05:35:10","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T21:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1490556"},"modified":"2017-05-16T05:35:10","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T21:35:10","slug":"using-tech-to-uproot-systemic-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/using-tech-to-uproot-systemic-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"Using tech to uproot systemic racism"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rejecting the backlash against hashtag activism<\/a>, Brittany Packnett defended the work of the armchair activists on Twitter and other social media who have brought needed attention to social justice issues.<\/p>\n

Set against a backdrop in which just last week another young black kid\u00a0was shot and killed<\/a> by police, Packnett, co-founder\u00a0of Campaign Zero,\u00a0<\/a>defended the use of social media like Twitter and affirmed its ability to influence legislation and have a profound affect on social justice movements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it Campaign Zero because we believe we can live in a world where police don\u2019t kill people,\u201d says Packnett of the organization\u2019s mission.\u00a0\u201cIt is perfectly possible to have the police not kill anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

And social media activism is an important component of making that vision a reality, says Packnett.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf protest is the act of telling the truth out loud, in public, there are lots of ways you can take the spirit of protest anywhere,\u201d Packnett says. \u201cWe need every single tool we have at our disposal to win this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For that reason, Packnett rejects the notion that folks can\u2019t help bend the arc of history toward justice even from the comfort of their couches. \u201cYou helped Ferguson be the most-used hashtag in 10\u00a0years of Twitter\u2026 we need people who couldn\u2019t necessarily get up off of the couch to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

And hashtag activism gets real results, according to Packnett. \u201cHashtag activism has gotten folks fired and hashtag activism has gotten folks charged\u2026 hashtag activism has gotten laws changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the whole point of Campaign Zero is to make local activism as easy as possible. The organization is a focal point and a resource for presenting platforms for social change that can be taken to local legislators.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about empowerment and it\u2019s about using the new technological tools to tackle an old problem. \u201cPolice violence is not a new problem,\u201d Packnett notes. \u201cBlack bodies were never served or protected\u2026 they were always controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    It\u2019s also important to place this history of police violence in the broader context of social injustice. Packnett calls it a branch on a larger tree that is rooted in systemic racism and oppression.<\/p>\n

    \u201cOur mission is not to break off one particular branch of the system. It\u2019s to uproot the entire tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

    That mission became clear to Packnett in the wake of Michael Brown\u2019s murder in Ferguson, Mo. It was in the protests that followed in that small Missouri town that the resistance movement was formed (primarily through online activism).<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe first venture was the Ferguson Protest newsletter,\u201d she said. \u201cWe had 16,000 subscribers worldwide in just a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Indeed, technology and tech companies have a crucial role to play, not just in disseminating information but in becoming new exemplars of how American culture can change.<\/p>\n

    Tech companies have a responsibility to hold themselves up to the high standards that they espouse, says Packnett. She called for tech companies to not just tout their diversity numbers when those employees are only filing the most junior positions at those businesses. Instead, companies should be looking to have diverse hires take on more senior roles.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWhat if everything you did was devoted to a sense of equity?\u201d Packnett asked of the industry.<\/p>\n

    In an industry that claims to be different from the rest of the world, in an industry that looks to change the way the world works, Packnett issued a challenge to change its own practices.<\/p>\n

    Industries aren\u2019t transformative unless they can actually transform themselves, and that includes not just boasting of diversity in hiring when everyone is working in junior positions. The industry should bring more people on in senior roles, said Packnett. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of commitment we\u2019re looking for from the tech industry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \"\" Rejecting the backlash against hashtag activism, Brittany Packnett defended the work of the armchair activists on Twitter and other social media who have brought needed attention to social justice issues. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

    \"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-341020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}