We will try to apply solutions that may have worked in well in their specific situational, geographic, or cultural context without considering why applying it to our situation may lead to a different outcome or require some adjusting and rebuilding in order to succeed. Won't specify causes because that'll cause controversy. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Activism is important for political change. This puts them in a precarious position where theyre generally the first items to be deprioritized when organizations find themselves lacking in resources (time, funding, capacity), which is frequent and common. This Celebrity Dieting Fad Can Actually Do More Harm Than Good. The world of social media was a little quieter than usual on Wednesday: Celebrities ranging from Kim Kardashian West to Mark Ruffalo froze their Instagram accounts for 24 hours, to protest hate speech and misinformation being spread on Facebook, Instagrams parent company. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Roger Waters Questioned in Depth about Ukraine, Russia, Israel, U.S. In 1920, Al Jolson, the singer and actor, became the first celebrity to publicly endorse someone for president when he stumped for Warren G. Harding, Mr. Harvey said. When we mainly value our work by how visible it is to another person, or how others view our work in relation to someone elses, it becomes easy to lose touch with ourselves, making it difficult for us to identify and trust our own experiences, and capabilities. This pressure and relationship to funding often plays a significant factor in the development of an organizations culture, heavily influencing who non-profits hold themselves accountable to. It can feel like just another huge, never-ending task on a long continually growing to-do list. Now its back to fight for nothing short of abolition. To donate by check, cryptocurrency or other method, see our Ways to Give page. This frequently results in uninspired theories of change, and contributing to the rise of individualist celebrity narratives around leaders. Social media has served as a vehicle for our movements to connect, build, communicate, and show up for one another. How, according to Jimenez, However, what I severely criticize are those celebrities that feel compelled to become involved in severe conflicts and quickly design ambitious approaches and projects that can only live in the elevated world of international politics and high diplomacy. We have to acknowledge celebrity culture and how it stretches well beyond formal celebrities and into our movements, organizations, groups, relationships just as punishment does. So popular, the article claims, that superstardom seems to require some sort of alignment with a cause or even an entire country in need. Some would say that it's the symbols that are important - if Emma Thompson's message is heard, it's worth it in the long run. New Internationalist: Does Celebrity Activism Do More Harm Than Good? With the embrace of complexity we are able to discover that the way we seek to approach and work within a conflict must be incredibly flexible and diverse. Now he is interested in responsible travel and community tourism. Martin Sheen has done his part in a ton of ways. Lets invest in building movements that support the needs and value the participation of parents, low and minimum-wage workers, people who rely on public transportation, and people with disabilities. Blackout Tuesday: Why posting a black image could be doing more harm Is Digital Connectedness Good or Bad for People? As we work to be free of a culture of punishment/revenge, we also have to confront the other side. how idolizing our movement leaders exacerbates systemic burn out and defers the work towards collective liberation, We really need to stop putting people on pedestals. They deserve our attention, respect, and engagement, but they deserve to experience this in a way that is not disengaged from their humanity, or the humanity of those supporting and engaging them. If only enough people knew and cared about a certain conflict or problem, the assumption goes, then the combined energy and support could be harnessed in order to trigger an immediate flood of solutions. Economic System in Islam Compared with Capitalism and Socialism, ASIA-UPDATES ON MYANMAR ROHINGYA GENOCIDE, KUDANKULAM ANTI-NUCLEAR SATYAGRAHA, INDIA, Remembering TRANSCEND Member Graeme MacQueen (1948 25 Apr 2023), National Peace Disruption: This Is a Nation of Thieves, Quantum Physics and Spirituality: The Relationship between Quantum Mechanics and the Vedas, The Wests State Media and Their Increasing Violence: The Hersh Affair, TRANSCEND MEDIA SERVICE Why Celebrity Activism Does , Click here to go to the current weekly digest. Its easy for us to support #metoo advocates and survivors of abuse until it interferes with our campaign plans, our community events, our organizational structure. I admired their ability to financially sustain themselves from their work before celebrating their contributions to principled struggle, and I was often more focused on their personal lifestyle choices rather than their commitment to liberation. The ideas Im sharing here are grounded in stories, practices, and frameworks rooted in the transformative justice and disability justice frameworks, and from what Ive learned following the work of the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective, Transform Harm, Project NIA, API CHAYA, Emergent Strategy Ideation, Detroit Safety Team, Detroit Represent!, and so many others. Ahead of the 30th anniversary of Geldof and Bonos Live Aid, The Conversation asks whether star backers cause damage by oversimplifying the politics of power. Why celebrity activism does more harm than good In addition to everything named here, applying celebrity culture to our movement spaces weighs heavily on how much and if we value care, healing, and other under-recognized and historically-feminized work including logistics planning, cleaning and space-creating, etc. It can feel comforting to believe that even if we cannot be the super human we think we need to be in order to contribute valuably, at least someone else out there can; that one persons vision is the only one we need in order to achieve collective liberation. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. We see these forms of engagement lead to fragmented relationships, uncoordinated movements, and the formation of social cliques. Credit Waging Nonviolence and link to the original. Some would say that its the symbols that are important if Emma Thompsons message is heard, its worth it in the long run. You might find new friends among activists. Does celebrity activism do more harm than good? It has also served as a place to present leaders and their impacts (current and historic) through a lens of individualism. and followed by Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, the UK, Bermuda, the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, Singapore, etc. All Rights Reserved. It is this mindset that has motivated celebrities like the rock star Bono to take up the causes of debt cancelation, the increase in foreign aid and the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals. We do not need celebrities who we idolize or idealize, who we dont feel comfortable questioning, who we dont feel safe challenging. It leads to a shift from thinking of someone as a valuable part of a larger, collective movement, into idealizing their efforts, personal lives, personalities, and relationships, thinking of them as the individualized personification of an entire social movement. Changing our movements will require collective investment and responses to build egalitarian, democratic structures. The Dodd-Frank campaign should have involved asking local activists, populations and mining experts in the eastern DRC about mineral supply chains, he writes, to check whether they could be altered to improve the situation. These people are the Nicholas Kristofs and the Jeffry Sachses of the world who often find their self-assurance and sense of certainty in their Ivy League educations, in the power that their positions grant them or in the titles that they hold. its not just celebrity activism that is unhelpful, its the behaviour you described in the article. It doesnt have to be instead of falling down that slippery slope, you could also choose to investigate capitalism, which is the ultimate cause of most of these disasters in the first place. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Actor George Clooney has taken great interest in Darfur; Madonna and Oprah Winfrey have embraced the fight for girls education in Africa, while Angelina Jolie knocks at the doors of the major centers of power as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador to promote support for humanitarian relief. Celebrities speaking truth to power, rather than half-truths that may inadvertently serve the interests of power, may be a more promising way forward if celebrity advocacy is to lead to meaningful socioeconomic change. Though Im sure there are many more, next steps I am envisioning right now begin with investing in relationships with our peers, in deepening our personal visions for what liberation might look like, in studying the organizational and collective contexts under which many of our most dynamic movement leaders developed their thought and action, in joining and actively participating in local organizations and community groups, and learning how to be in conflict with each other, to disagree with one another without expanding violence towards each other, to learn how to respond to harm with compassionate accountability. As community members and the people who make up these movements, we deserve to be organizing in a culture that is prioritizing our well-being not just as long-term goal of eventually, or maybe when this next event ends, but as we are moving together now. Speaking from personal experience and drawing from conversations Ive had with a few trusted comrades, when organizers are working with less than we need, running on fumes while facing problems bigger than all of us, it is often difficult to accept our own limitations. Should we question the motives of celebrities who hire expensive PR experts to sell their convictions? Celebrity activism: Help or hindrance? - My Media Blog My experience working with armed conflicts and humanitarian crises has shown me the disastrous effects that such views tend to have on the ground. Through the current pandemic, many grassroots efforts are already redirecting their attention and actions, placing the focus on mutual aid and building spaces and practices that facilitate connection and trust; We are developing stronger clarity of collective values, and an unwillingness to bend in our practices or leave any of our comrades behind. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. Tyree, professor and interim Associate Dean of Howard Universitys Cathy Hughes School of Communications, social media-activism can have a major impactif its done right. Leonardo DiCaprio, one of Hollywoods biggest proponents of climate change, continues to use a mega yacht and private planes. When the main outcome we are looking for in our leaders a social justice version of the same entertainment, inspiration, and endorphin rush we find by following mainstream celebrities and their lives, we are limiting everyone involved while increasing avenues for potential harm. My new friends began to describe how there had been a massive gathering in the stadium for the screening of a video put together by a foreign NGO. Let us admit that the celebrities involvement does some good despite the problems involved. This is a global problem which requires global solutions, but thats not going to happen if the wealthiest use their voices to antagonise, provoking scepticism and annoyance at the cause. Ask yourself why you even care about this conflict in the first place? We avoid holding leadership accountable, or even acknowledge violence or abusive theyve committed for fear it will destabilize our movements. Ask yourself why you even care about this conflict in the first place? At that point, responses to unaddressed trauma and burn out had expanded into frequent panic attacks and migraines, dangerous weight loss, and rashes developing under my eyes and on my chest among other symptoms. . And while I support leadership that is accountable and structured according to collective need, I question if and how successfully our current leadership culture fosters this, when we are more readily willing to follow someone based on their charisma, rather than their relationship to the movement and critical analysis. If you undermine your argument, why should I buy it? Moving beyond my own individual experience of burn out, after conversations with close friends and comrades who shared similar experiences, it is apparent that the values of celebrity culture (individualism, idolization, dehumanization) are also present in many current and recent social justice movements in the United States, and that this is exacerbating systemic issues of burn out and unaccountable leadership, and is ultimately deferring our efforts towards collective liberation. May not always be peaceful. One way I see us doing this is by placing leaders and individuals in our movements on pedestals, ascribing excessive weight and value to their opinions, disproportionately rewarding one persons efforts in a collaborative project or process, and applying unobtainable expectations to them and their work. . (A Facebook spokesperson told the New York Times on Tuesday that it had no comment about the situation.). We demonize people or we put them on pedestals. 23m ago. I see continually see a massive gap between what is internationally applauded and promoted, and what the local communities actually want, need, or even find relevant. If you feel invested in a cause, engage it with all your passion, but tread carefully. . This guy who comes from Marcy Projects, whos made it to these places were playing Yankee Stadium tonight. There are a lot of reasons why celebrity culture and individualism are so present in our movements. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have come under fire for promoting green politics and deciding to limit the number of children they have, only to take numerous private flights. Hi Ho! To trot out an old clich, they talk the talk (boy, do they talk), but they refuse to walk the walk. Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com. Reduction of discrimination of minorities. British politician William Hague with actor and UNHCR special envoy Angelina Jolie in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These people are the Nicholas Kristofs and the Jeffry Sachses of the world who often find their self-assurance and sense of certainty in their Ivy League educations, in the power that their positions grant them or in the titles that they hold. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the GO TO ORIGINAL links. Leo Tolstoy once wrote to the effect: You sit on my back and oppress me, but assure me that you feel sorry for me and will do anything to alleviate my burden except get off my back! But in that case, it was . Does political activism do more harm than good to society? Finally, losing sight of understanding our leaders as fellow human beings also means disconnection from their need for rest, joy, care, and community, their limits and their boundaries. T he world of social media was a little quieter than usual on Wednesday: Celebrities ranging from Kim Kardashian West to Mark Ruffalo "froze . Away from the fantasy world of easy-to-understand, black-and-white, single-story views of a conflict lays a world of complexity, depth and uncertainty. These conditions exacerbate systemic and wide-spread experiences of overwhelm. Celebrity-led campaigns do often prove to be highly successful in generating broad public support. This is because many lacks of awareness to be able to resolve them. not all celebrities act or are the same. I realized that, of course, they were talking about the launch of the first Kony 2012 video campaign by the U.S.-based organization Invisible Children. They did so with the help of notable friends: writers Arthur Conan Doyle and Joseph Conrad, and chocolate magnate William Cadbury. Dont sell our material or edit it, unless editing to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. Why Celebrity Activism Does More Harm Than Good 3. I am currently getting involved in the LGBTQ movement here in Chile and I will most definitely be asking myself some of the questions you posed. Additionally, when we consider how we relate to someone and their work we can ask ourselves whether we are seeking to replicate or replace the role someone holds, or motivated to expand, adopt, and build alongside an area of work, value, or practice. Finally, I found your closing remarks on what would be good to consider when getting involved in any cause very thought-provoking. Rancho Cucamonga High. I do not want to see us move into a way of relating which is defined by potential for harm. As recent research has shown, the problem with celebrity causes is that they tend to de-politicise activism. Social media has severely exacerbated blurred these lines of relation, easily dissolving the separation between peoples actions and analysis, and their personalities and style, and in this way, we can easily lose our sense of clarity around what we are valuing in someones work. When we see stories such as these, your response can only be disbelief sure, they claim that climate change is a major issue thatll affect our future, but they arent quite concerned enough to curb their own lifestyles. In an article for the World Peace Foundation, writer Alex de Waal says there are fundamental pillars of activism which should always be followed, most of all, the act of responding to and collaborating with local people, rather than imposing outside agendas. For political issues which are binary in nature, all you have to do is be right more than 50% of the time in order to have an expectation of improving the world. There are far too many climate hypocrites to list, but here are a few recent examples. The United States mainstream funding model is inherently misaligned with the vision our movements are fighting for. The question then remains as to whether celebrities can really have a positive impact. Image: Office of the Governor General / Wikimedia Commons. But I believe that people would be much more accepting of causes if it is not forced upon them by activist groups. Here's What an Expert Thinks. When we dont see the principled and discipled collective actions many of our leaders engaged in prior to becoming well-known, which significantly contributed to the sharpness of their analysis, the impact of their actions, and the consistency and longevity of their participation in anti-oppressive struggles, we paint a picture that our leader somehow became this way on their own, overnight. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Putting someone on a pedestal is not caring for them. But while the boycott temporarily reshaped the Instagram feeds of the celebrities collective millions of followers, it was also met with criticism. What better way to liberate ourselves from this burden than by taking up a global cause in a far-away land, and who better to show us the way to do it than our favorite celebrities? Magazines. Many argue that these campaigns do more harm than good by providing participants with a sense of satisfaction that they've taken an action without actually contributing to the cause. This can also look like believing a celebrity activists analysis and beliefs to be irrefutable as well as universally applicable and relevant. By Wednesday night, according to Stop Hate for Profit, the Instagram freeze was seen by over 1 billion people. The day-long freeze, during which the celebrities ceased to share photos or posts on either platform, was organized by Stop Hate for Profit, a coalition of nine civil rights groups that are asking Facebook to make policy changes to address online harassment and conspiracy theories that spread place on the platform. With de facto international boycotts on minerals from the DRC, and a government ban on artisanal mining, tens of thousands of miners and businesses ended up unable to make a living. Hyde's chapter on celebrity activism is particularly good. What better way to liberate ourselves from this burden than by taking up a global cause in a far-away land, and who better to show us the way to do it than our favorite celebrities? Whether its Black Lives Matter or the #MeToo movement, people are taking to social media to voice their opinions and really call attention to some of the issues that have been problematic in U.S. society in past years and now, Tyree says. I believe the question posed in the video about how do we connect our good intentions and desire to help with things that actually work is spot on.
why celebrity activism does more harm than good
