Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - April Magazine - Blogger Nation - Index

Continued from page 22
to a computer before a pen and a pad,
this movement has come to Generation
Y’s favorite hangout spot — the
Internet. The popular social network
Web site Facebook has been instrumental
in helping young activists share their
opinions with peers and brand their own
causes.
When a group of Temple students
wanted a Black student union to bridge
the gap with the community and create a
support system for Black students, they
created a Facebook group to rallying the
university and the community behind
their cause. Addison, an officer in the
student organization, says the site has
been a viral avenue of communication,
with 707 people having joined.
“Because our aim is so wide its imperative
that we reach out to a lot of people
at one time, so we use the World Wide
Web,” says the New Jersey native.
“If each coordinator invites all of their
friends on Facebook to an event we’re
holding, we can get the word out to literally
thousands of people within a matter
of minutes.” The Black student union
raised $800 for the Jena Six legal fund
and organized the Temple protest that
24 TRIBUNE MAGAZINE APRIL 2008
went from the campus Bell Tower to the
steps of City Hall.
In these tech-rich times, one place
these young activists don’t seem to be
running to is traditional civil rights
organizations. Williams, a one-time
NAACP college chapter leader, has
seen first hand the exodus of youth
from such organizations. In recent
years the NAACP has struggled to
increase membership and remain relevant
to today’s youth who are more
likely to meet with friends over instant
messenger than at the library — a common
gathering place for NAACP meetings.
The organization’s presumed
shortcomings have more to do with a
digital disconnect than with its “cool
factor,” according to Williams.
“A lot of the NAACP chapters are a
little bit behind the times,” he says, noting
one local chapter that has a blog
linked to the Afrosphere. “When it
comes to activism and advocacy today,
it moves at lightning speed.”
This disconnection can prevent local
chapters from furthering their agendas
outside of their regional borders, adds
Pole.
Efforts by the Louisiana NAACP and
local chapters fell short when a rally
– TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO
Unlike in the
’60s and ’70s,
today’s
organized
protests begin
online and
spread with
the click of
a mouse.
they organized last March in support of
the Jena Six teens drew only a few
dozen people. Though well-intended,
their outcome paled in comparison to
the whirlwind of support that followed
as a result of Internet campaigns.
Resources and skill sets from both
online efforts and tradition organizations
are needed and each could find
greater success in a collaborative effort,
Mary Frances Berry, a history professor
at the University of Pennsylvania,
noted in a recent interview with NPR.
The former chairperson of the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights suggested
that when the NAACP selects its future
president, the candidate should be
someone who can bridge the gap with
online activists.
“They need to get with it, and plug in
with these folks. All this energy needs
to be mobilized, so that it doesn’t
become a one-week show,” says Berry.
And if the old guard refuses collaboration,
she stated ominously, “new
organizations will simply have to dis-
T
place them.”
Heather Faison is a copy editor at the
Philadelphia Tribune.