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Should South Africans care about the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests?
By: Marthinus Conradie
The answer is simple. Of course, South Africans should care about the protests that have erupted across the United States in May and June 2020, in reaction to the long-standing disregard for African American lives, including the truly horrendous murder of George Floyd. Of course, the answer is yes. However, I am going to suggest that we can, and should, use this opportunity to ask another question. Do American activists show solidarity with South Africans? And, I want to use that question, to ask another, slightly deeper question. Are activists using social media optimally?
In 2018, Professor Krystal Strong, working at the University of Pennsylvania, published a provocative article, in which she questions the lack of consistent and meaningful US support for social justice issues in South Africa. She explains why South Africans can expect solidarity from US movements such as #BlackLivesMatter. For one thing, BlackLivesMatter and South African movements such as #FeesMustFall share core concerns and characteristics. Both movements were instigated and driven by members of the youth, and both movements aim to advance social justice, along racial and intersectional lines. Despite these similarities, however, Professor Strong explains that while South African activists enthusiastically launch support protests to show compassion with issues in the US, this camaraderie is not always returned. In 2016, “after the murders of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two unarmed black men killed by US police during traffic stops, activists in South Africa and Kenya staged solidarity protests. M4BL [Movement for Black Lives] in the United States, for our part, have not responded in kind in any coordinated fashion to social justice issues in Africa” (Strong, 2018: 277).
Professor Strong (2018) discusses various explanations, and I strongly recommend that you read her article. But instead of summarising her ideas here, I want to raise two other suggestions for South African youth activists. First, assuming that South African activists would appreciate more meaningful and consistent support from US movements, how can this be achieved? Second, if successful, exactly what form would we like this support to take?
The first question leads me to the question I mentioned in the first paragraph of this opinion piece. Are activists using social media optimally? Social media has eased global communication to unprecedented levels. It has already propelled actions such as #FeesMusFall. Should we be thinking about its cross-national potential, such as collaboration with activists in the US, or in other parts of Africa?
Sadly, Covid-19 has diminished many South Africans’ internet access. However, long before the lockdown, South Africans have not been committed to a deep culture of online deliberation: the process of debating the causes and possible solutions to major problems including racism and its economic manifestations. Many websites are devoted to sharing news about social justice issues, but these sites mainly work as notice boards, rather than debating hot spots, where we can engage each other, as well as activists from all over the world. To be fair, debating with fellow South Africans can be pretty tough, especially when we talk from different political and cultural viewpoints. Debating with people from completely different countries can be even more daunting, given barriers of language and culture. But do these challenges completely block all opportunities for online coordination and collaboration, or are they surmountable?
Answers to the second question are more complicated. How would we like to see activists from different nations interact? What would global, cross-national support look like? Humbly, I would like to suggest that we all reflect on these questions. Please share your thoughts.
References
Strong, K. 2018. Do African Lives Matter to Black Lives Matter? Youth Uprisings and the Borders of Solidarity. Urban Education. 53(2): 265-285.
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