ERIC Number: EJ1308570
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jul-13
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1938-5978
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
From #BLM to the Emergence of @Blackat___
Jean-Francois, Sara
New England Journal of Higher Education, Jul 2021
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was started in 2013 by three Black women who were sick and tired of all the lives lost. Since its inception, BLM has gone worldwide, a cross-continental connection of people standing in support of Black life through national protests, marches and other actions calling out racial injustice and police brutality against Black and brown people. Today, with the use of social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and more, not a moment goes by when young people are not connected. From this movement comes the emergence of the online voices of Black students at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The emergence of the Instagram handle, @Blackat (insert an institution) has emerged at a time when lives are virtual. At the core of the @Blackat__ messages, students are simply sharing the stories that higher education has traditionally kept out of the narrative. Too many students of color are still healing from the trauma that happened to them at PWIs. Many institutions now believe that the call for "establishing antiracist campuses" means that the stories of Black and other marginalized students are no longer the reality of students on campus. Instead of trying to negotiate the credibility of "antiracist initiative" by finding performative ways to show antiracism, these institutions should simply listen and learn and find ways to take definitive steps toward progress, not defensive steps away from it.
Descriptors: Social Media, African American Students, Social Change, Activism, Colleges, Institutional Characteristics, Whites, Racial Discrimination
New England Board of Higher Education. 45 Temple Place, Boston, MA 02111. Tel: 617-357-9620; Fax: 617-338-1577; e-mail: nejhe@nebhe.org; Web site: https://nebhe.org/nejhe/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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