CNET: How Social Media Became a Force for Digital Activism. “Social media has gained a reputation over the years for misinformation and distrust, but it’s also an important tool for activists and advocacy groups. With its nonstop nature and widespread reach, social media isn’t something they could ignore anyway. Instead, many have embraced it and rethought their strategy around recruiting and getting their message out.”
University of Washington: Nonprofits show resilience and initiative during second year of pandemic. “More than a year into the pandemic, Washington nonprofits have shown resiliency in serving their communities and staying afloat, a study from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington shows. The new study explores not only how the pandemic economy impacted donations to, and the operations of, charitable organizations, but also how nonprofits responded to the simultaneous call for racial justice.”
University of Hawaii: $350K to research redescribing archives for social change, justice . “Library and Information Science (LIS) Program Assistant Professor Tonia Sutherland is the recipient of the Institute of Museum and Library Services’s Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian award. Sutherland will receive $357,536 over three years for her research proposal ‘Premised on Care: Redescription as Restorative Justice in American Archives.’ Sutherland will identify existing—and make recommendations for future—professional practices for culturally responsive decision-making about archival redescription.”
Meduza: Russian telecoms operators start blocking Google Docs after Navalny’s team uses it to publish ‘Smart Vote’ endorsements. “Telecommunications operators in Russia started blocking Google Docs late in the evening on September 15, the GlobalCheck project reported. According to GlobalCheck, which monitors Russia’s Internet blocking system, the site docs.google.com is being blocked by the telecommunications operators MTS, MegaFon, and Rostelecom. The Internet watchdog Roskomsvoboda reports that Tele2 users are also experiencing disruptions.”
Western Michigan University: In the Streets; On the Walls: Archiving, Activism, & the Urban Art Mapping Street Art Database. “The Urban Art Mapping George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art database is a crowdsourced, activist archive of street art created in the context of the ongoing movement demanding social justice and equality…. Join guest scholars Heather Shirey and David Todd Lawrence, co-directors of Urban Art Mapping Research Project, and learn about the ways that artists and writers have used walls, posts, streets and boards as sites for vernacular communicative acts and explore the goals, challenges and applications of a crowd-sourced archive of protest art in the community.” September 15th, Webex, free.
Getty: Art and the Black Power Movement. “In 2017–2019, the landmark traveling exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, shone a light on Black artists from the early 60s to the early 80s. A new expansive book conceived as a companion to this exhibition compiles hundreds of important texts from the era reflecting on the influence and power of Black art…. On September 9, the book’s editors, Mark Godfrey and Allie Biswas, will join Getty curator LeRonn P. Brooks for an online discussion about this cultural dialogue. They will explore the powerful ideas put forth by artists and writers who confronted questions of Black identity, activism, art, and social responsibility during the Black Power era.” Free and virtual (Zoom)
Business Mirror: Online forum crosses intersection between art and activism. “Artist groups pushing for social justice converged to examine how art and activism cross paths to rally and protest against oppressive regimes. In the recent online forum, titled ‘Intersections of Art, Activism and Social Justice in the Philippines,’ several art movements discussed their roles in critical discourse and protest movements from the Marcos dictatorship to the Duterte administration.”
Syracuse University: New Digital Exhibition Features Story of The Syracuse 8. “Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center recently released a new digital exhibition titled ‘A Courageous Stand: The Story of the Syracuse 8.’ The Syracuse 8 was a group of Black student-athletes who boycotted the University football program until it addressed their allegations of racism in 1970.”
The Conversation: ‘OK Boomer’: how a TikTok meme traces the rise of Gen Z political consciousness. “‘OK Boomer’ began as a meme in TikTok videos, but our research shows the catchphrase has become much more. The simple two-word phrase is used to express personal politics and at the same time consolidate an awareness of intergenerational politics, in which Gen Z are coming to see themselves as a cohort with shared interests.”
DigitalNC: Additional Materials from the Crystal Lee Sutton Collection at Alamance Community College Now Online . “Alamance Community College houses and cares for a wide variety of materials and artifacts documenting the career of Crystal Lee Sutton, a labor activist who came to national prominence when her story was fictionalized in the movie Norma Rae. Before her passing, Sutton donated the collection to the College and we have helped digitize another batch to share on DigitalNC.”
CNET: Fortnite lets players re-live Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. “The experience, called March Through Time, will let players visit a ‘reimagined’ Washington, DC, of 1963. It will include collaborative quests and mini games, pop-up galleries, educational resources, ‘museum-inspired points of interest and historical imagery’ intended to give context to the speech, Fortnite said Thursday.”
The Moscow Times: Russia Orders Apple, Google to Remove Navalny App. “Russia has ordered Apple and Google to remove jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s app from their app stores as his movement faces unprecedented pressure ahead of key elections next month. Navalny began actively promoting the app after the authorities last month blocked access to his main website and 49 other associated sites and called for blocking social media linked to him.”
Google Blog: Explore our planet’s most unique places and cultures. “Our physical world is changing faster than ever. Climate change and global socio-economic shifts are threatening our magnificent natural landscapes and disrupting small communities. In keeping with this, there is value to be found in confronting and documenting our at-risk environment. For World Photography Day, we invite you to explore A World of Difference, a new online exhibition on Google Arts & Culture offering a perspective of these diverse stories through the lens of Italian photographer Angelo Chiacchio, in collaboration with Art Works for Change.”
Brookings Institution: Nigeria’s Twitter ban is a misplaced priority. “Political activists have the most dominant voice in the conversation while institutional actors and organizations have some of the smallest. While Nigerian citizens and activists continue to use the platform, the Nigerian government has effectively shut itself out from the conversation with only the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, still maintaining a presence on Twitter.”
AP: Cuba’s internet cutoff: The go-to tactic for global despots. “Cubans facing the country’s worst economic crisis in decades took to the streets over the weekend. In turn, authorities blocked social media sites in an apparent effort to stop the flow of information into, out of and within the beleaguered nation.”
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