More Than A #Hashtag

In early July the nation was shook yet again by not one but two more cases of African American men being killed by the police, that were caught on camera. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile became two more names to add to the unfathomably long list of young, black men who's lives have been cut short by police. In recent years their seems to be an awakening of sorts that has transpired within the country in relation to police brutality, yet these injustices against people of color have been purveyed within the nation for centuries. Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray are just a few of the names who have made it to the 24-hour news cycle, many crimes against men and women of color are unknown by the public. In the age of social media, expressing a desire for change and a sense of outrage is easier than ever. With a new wave of the civil rights movement being ushered in and with the rise of Black Lives Matter, it is impossible to ignore the global conscience that is growing. The crimes against people of color and their subsequent disenfranchisement isn’t something that is just now beginning, it is a tradition that is woven into the very fabric of our country. However, the rise of social media and technology have purveyed the availability of proof of crimes and discrimination.

Philando Castile’s girlfriend live streamed his shooting to Facebook. They were stopped at a traffic stop for a broken tail light, and when officer Jeronimo Yanez spotted Castile’s firearm—that he had a license to carry—he assumed he was reaching for it and shot him without haste. The video is traumatic to say the least. Castile’s fiancé is somehow composed as she explains the officer has just shot her partner four times while he bleeds to death next to her, she pleads for him to please not be dead while he gushes blood in the driver’s seat. Alton Sterling was shot by police a day prior to Castile in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was shot in the back after being tackled to the ground. The video of his shooting was captured by a bystander and instantly became a viral video on the internet and in the news. Aside from being shot and killed by police for essentially being black men, Castile and Sterling also became plastered all over social media within the subsequent days. Their names being turned into hashtags. As a gesture of remembrance and protest against injustice, social media outlets such as twitter and Instagram both began to circulate #PhilandoCastile and #AltonSterling in conjunction with #BlackLivesMatter, although this creates dialogue--which is a crucial aspect of the movement—it does little to create real involvement in the issues. By tweeting about the video of Alton Sterling being pummeled to the ground outside a convenient store or posting an image in support of Black Lives Matter you are engaging in the conversation, however; social media can often give people a false sense of involvement. The core of the fight against structures of oppression lay in ground work and activism, just like the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Although social media platforms serve as a place to unite people for certain causes, it can also give people a false sense of participation. By marking you are interested in a Black Lives Matter event or sharing an article on another case of police brutality you are taking a stand in support of the movement , however; you are not doing anything to directly influence the movement. Therefore, it must be said that these victims are more than hashtags, they are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters who's lives ended prematurely. It is crucial we view them as more than a fixture on our newsfeed.