Performative Activism: The False Advocate's Fellatio

When we think about advocacy, especially in these socially turbulent times, we envision packed city streets of impassioned protesters, large demonstrations rallying behind a unified cause and cries for much needed reform. Unfortunately with every movement, there are those who perform the bare minimum and deem themselves game-changers; meet the performative activist. Grand in ego and small in deed, these ''activists'' are the vultures of any social rights movement. Their performances include: regurgitating trending social justice posts on their Instagram feed, excessively documenting their ''advocacy'' for all to see and condemning those they perceive not doing their part. These superficial acts go against the very movements they seek to advance, and instead direct the spotlight on themselves, placing a single individual above the cause itself.

Without declaring myself an authority on this subject, I thought I'd share my view on how to avoid falling into these traps..

First thing's first: Let's talk about these circulating social justice posts for a moment. While seemingly harmless in nature, the regurgitation of trendy social justice memes makes the movement just that, a meme to repost. Better to circulate actual links to state legislator offices and referral services like Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), an organization that connects victims to legal and counseling agencies. This gives victims of police brutality a real chance at holding their oppressors accountable and the opportunity to heal from scars of prejudice, not your fake Zodiac ''arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor'' memes. Do these memes maintain a level of awareness of her tragic death? Yes, but by blanketing it in a false sense of humor, you unintentionally trivialize her victimhood. So take a break from all memes you see on your friend's feeds, and repost content that genuinely promotes accountability against proponents of police brutality.

Second: did you snap it? Did you gram it? Did your fellow liberal friends watch it? There's nothing wrong with documenting a rally or protest you're attending, but saturating every media feed at your disposal, come on. When you're investing more energy in overloading your social feed with your ''advocacy'', you immediately switch from an active protester to a passive one. In moments likes these, here's a gentle reminder..passive protestors seldom make history. These protests and rallies calling for fundamental social change will soon be captured in countless history textbooks, take care to not have your video selfie on their pages. Allow them to show the faces, signs and images that will truly move their future readers, so that they may fully grasp what took place on those city streets.

Third: denouncing someone for doing ''less'' than yourself does not grant you the advocate of the year award. Keep in mind there is more than one way to advocate for fundamental reform. Have a friend who isn't regurgitating 10+ social justice posts a day on their social media feed? Maybe they've made donations to legal clinics and and counseling hotlines in affected regions. These are the forms of advocacy that while are often unseen, still hold potential for great influence. When comparing those two scenarios, it's objectively the latter that helps victims of police brutality and racial profiling more, not the former. Hard pill to swallow, I know. If you're genuinely able to say you've done both, you're in the sweet spot. Putting in the work for both transparent and unseen avenues of advocacy further strengthen the unified purpose of the movement. More importantly, it's crucial you do this in service of the movement and the change it seeks to create, not as an opportunity to hold your head above the crowd. This is a movement, one birthed by the horrific deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others, and it is they who must remain the center of attention.

This all isn't to say those who've committed performative advocacy had ill intentions or sought to change the message, some could've been simply unaware. However, while we all wish to see the crowd for change amass as much as possible, it's important to distinguish genuine acts of advocacy from those that may prove harmful, or at the very least inefficient.

Now I could end this with the famous Gandhi quote ''be the change you wish to see in the world'', but truth be told, that quote is actually 1/3 of the saying and the meaning altars quite a bit when read in its entirety. So I'll just say: keep fighting..