Full confession I never used to buy into global warning and the need for environmental protection. Celebrity Activism.docx - Ramos 1 Daniela Ramos Ms. Moreno . Each year has a different theme, and this years was the impact of global warming. There are a lot of reasons why celebrity culture and individualism are so present in our movements. GO TO ORIGINAL links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. It's hard to take those dire warnings seriously when they're immediately undercut by the actions of the speaker. This frequently results in uninspired theories of change, and contributing to the rise of individualist celebrity narratives around leaders. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Waging Nonviolence is a nonprofit organization and all donations are tax deductible. As a result of participating in these systems, I had internalized the harmful idea that the large majority, if not entirety, of my worth was grounded in my ability to be both productive and available. Right on, Leo! This Community section offers just a sample of their latest stories. How Misguided Celebrity Activism Does More Harm Than Good. Magazines, Digital Engaging in another persons work in this way can impact us in a few key ways. Reduction of discrimination of minorities. They are currently part of a collective living project, Brick & Mortar Collective, as well as a creative disability justice collective, Relentless Bodies. It leads to a shift from thinking of someone as a valuable part of a larger, collective movement, into idealizing their efforts, personal lives, personalities, and relationships, thinking of them as the individualized personification of an entire social movement. Nobody likes being lectured by a hypocrite, and its the Earth thats losing out in the process. Activists do more harm than good to their cause. Here are some powerful examples of the complexities of intervening in international conflicts which might help you better understand the point I tried to make in the article: http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/whats-wrong-with-the-bill-gates-bono-approach-to-saving-the-world.html, http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/10/is_george_clooney_helping. Whose interests are they serving? Just the other day on the radio I heard one of the actors from Orange Is the New Black saying really important and powerful stuff about the prison-industrial complex. It is harmful and dehumanizes all involved. You can love, admire, adore, learn from, or follow the leadership of someone without putting them on a pedestal. Should celebrities promote charities? | New Internationalist In particular, I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciations for Sariah Metcalfe, Ian Matchett, Teiana McGahey and Owolabi Aboyade for your support, input, and collaboration, and for being continuous thought partners with me in a struggle towards liberation. Often unknowingly, I was contributing to this larger dynamic propped up by this celebrity culture mentality. Not only this, but in these idealized perceptions of individuals, we often disconnect from the reality that even in their greatness, our leaders (now celebrities) still hold the potential to cause harm as we all do. When we dont see the principled and discipled collective actions many of our leaders engaged in prior to becoming well-known, which significantly contributed to the sharpness of their analysis, the impact of their actions, and the consistency and longevity of their participation in anti-oppressive struggles, we paint a picture that our leader somehow became this way on their own, overnight. However, critics argue that some celebrities are doing more harm than good and question where their true motivations lie. And I wonder, how revolutionary can our movements truly be if there is no space for those of us who are living in the context of these conditions and identities? The United States mainstream funding model is inherently misaligned with the vision our movements are fighting for. I have no solution for this dilemma, but I do believe that most effective strategies that address this issue are highly context specific and are organically generated from the creative energy present within the local communities. And now, as climate discussion becomes increasingly important, its still the same issue we need more than ever to do something about the environment, but the actions of celebrity eco-hypocrites is still proving off-putting to the wider public. Dynamics of Celebrity Activism. how idolizing our movement leaders Moving beyond my own individual experience of burn out, after conversations with close friends and comrades who shared similar experiences, it is apparent that the values of celebrity culture (individualism, idolization, dehumanization) are also present in many current and recent social justice movements in the United States, and that this is exacerbating systemic issues of burn out and unaccountable leadership, and is ultimately deferring our efforts towards collective liberation. Being told that you have an urgent responsibility to act in order to help solve a conflict that you hardly even knew existed in the first place is the first step down a slippery slope of continuous despair, wasted goodwill and neo-colonialism. The conclusion . And Im sure we could come up with others that are more recent. Introduced in 2010 and championed by celebrities from Ben Affleck to Nicole Richie, the ruling required companies to disclose their use of conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country. We can begin to see clearly the ways that celebrity culture, idolization and individualism impact how we value ourselves, our comrades, and less visible leaders when we reflect on how we discuss and relate to many of our most visible movement leaders. One way I see us doing this is by placing leaders and individuals in our movements on pedestals, ascribing excessive weight and value to their opinions, disproportionately rewarding one persons efforts in a collaborative project or process, and applying unobtainable expectations to them and their work. We treat this subject and the negative unintended consequences in our 6-episode DVD Series on poverty and development. But this kind of celebrity advocacy isnt new, either. Social media has served as a vehicle for our movements to connect, build, communicate, and show up for one another.
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