Personal Article
At this day and age, people feel obliged to follow trends, whether it's purchasing the newest pair of Adidas sneakers or learning popular TikTok dances. However, did you know that political issues can become trends as well?
by Avani Pammidimukkala
It is nearly impossible for someone living in the United States, or at this point, nearly the entire world, to not know the horribly racist and unjust incident that occured on May 25, 2020. The death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white officer because of his skin color.
When I first heard about this whole situation, I was shocked that people in America still judged and labeled others based on their skin color. After all, isn’t one of our country’s main principles that “all men are created equal”?
And now, I can only scoff and ask myself and others “All men are created equal, REALLY”? Do ALL U.S. citizens really treat and look at others on the same level, without judging them based on their physical appearances? From what I can see, the answer is clearly a big, fat NO.
As I was scrolling through various social media platforms, mainly Instagram, since the incident, I quickly took notice that I was not the only one with the same reaction and opinion. Instagram was flooded with posts about how black lives matter and other protest materials. To add on, nearly all of the people I follow posted something related to Black Lives Matter.
An example is the recent “Blackout Tuesday” chain. When I scrolled through Instagram on Tuesday, all I could see were posts with a black background color. You can say that this was a “trend” for a day and for a good cause.
More and more people are posting about this issue since the incident with George Floyd. So much, that it has turned into a worldwide protest. To me, just like the “Blackout Tuesday trend” it seemed that this protest became a “trend” of a sort for social media users.
So, since BLM has become a “trend,” do some people post about it just because? I know that there are a lot of people out there who are dedicated to the cause and are posting about it to spread awareness about the issue, but I’m not completely sure if everyone who contributed to the cause by posting thinks that way. What I can conclude from this is that most people do actually care for the protests, while there are some who just post BLM related content for likes and because it is just a “trend”.
So, since BLM related feed has been trending, it's your choice whether to decide if all of it was dedicated to the cause or just people posting for its status of a “trend”. What I can conclude from this is that there are a lot of people who actually care about the BLM movement and are posting to spread awareness about the issue. However, at the same time, there are several who are posting for this movement just to gain likes and go with the flow.
People should help the movement as much as they can, in addition to raising awareness on social media platforms. If you believe in BLM, sign petitions, donate to organizations, email officials, and maybe even protest to make a difference. Instead of making BLM a “trend”, help make it a “revolution”!