Kang reported on how a group of black online activists created the first 21st-century civil rights movement. Informed by police brutality targeting the blacks like the case of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, McKesson and other activists set up a formidable civil rights movement based on social media. Using the ease of sharing information online through the creation of hashtags, McKesson, and his core group managed to keep the communities aware of the chronic problem of police brutality towards the blacks.
McKesson and Elzie pulled their energies together to capture and distribute live reporting about protests against the police brutality on various parts of the nation. Their zeal, passion, and accurate live-twitting made them reliable and popular among their followers. They established a network of activists in the region who would feed them with live information. They would carefully choreograph the events to bring out the strongest message possible. As a result, they were believable to the majority of the followers. They also teamed up with Brittany Packnett (Executive Director at St. Louis Teach for American program) and Justin Hansford, a St. Louis law professor and published “This is the Movement newsletter” for scrutinizing Fergusons news. Consequently, Elzie and McKesson appeared on TVs and radios and became recognizable among their followers.
The journey to create the modern civil right movement was not smooth. McKesson faced harassment online as some of the followers called him names and wished him bad luck in his protests. However, many others expressed their gratitude for his undying passion for keeping the protest alive amid criticism. More than often, they were compared to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Their demands at times went answered, and promises from the leaders were not materializing. Elzie and McKesson have since been using the social media platform to communicate and organize protests against police brutality towards the blacks.
Work cited
Kang, Jay Caspian. “Our Demand is simple: Stop killing us.” The New York Times May 4, 2015. Accessed on April 5, 2016, Available at <http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/magazine/our-demand-is-simple-stop-killing- us.html?referer=&_r=0>
