Reflections on the Modern Fight for Racial Justice
On corporate performativity, the double edge of social media activism, and what allyship actually requires. Written in the weeks after George Floyd's murder.
Read the full essay at Songs of the Lotus.
This essay was written in June 2020, in the weeks following George Floyd's murder. It examines corporate responsibility, social media activism, and personal accountability — and the gap between performative support and structural change.
On corporations: diversity in numbers means little without representation in decision-making. Asking demographic questions on job applications while hiring from implicitly ranked institutions is not inclusion.
On social media: its power to spread messages globally is real. But viral sharing without education spreads misinformation as readily as truth. Engagement with what is trending is not the same as engagement with what is true.
On individual responsibility: allyship requires sustained commitment beyond the crisis moment — strategic voting, informed protest participation, and demanding governmental transparency about where public money goes and what it does.
The piece concludes with a resource list on racial justice and health disparities. The work is ongoing.