Week 9 - Janine Macaraeg

Janine Macaraeg

Section A01

Week 9

            Santos F. Ramos provides the readers of his article “Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice” with a lot of important information; what stood out to me was his explanation of other organizations using the Black Lives Matter movement phrasing for their own use and purpose. I used to wonder if any of the other similar named organizations were related to BLM. I’ve previously heard of “Our Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter,” for example, and thought that this organization was networking with BLM. But what I learned from this article is how this is not the case. Other organizations use similar phrasing because of the attention BLM has already received; so by using a similar name, their own would also become noticed. This sounds like it could be beneficial, but if a certain group fails to acknowledge what BLM truly means, it defeats the whole purpose of standing in solidarity with one another. It’s not about who can grab more attention from the media, but about how both groups can identify and stand united. Each minority group does face some kind of racial injustice which is why Ramos makes it a point to be aware and know how to effectively use our words to influence other communities. In addition, Soya Jung’s article, “Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans,” talks about how Asian Americans also feel the need to “defend, protect, and express…” who they are, their race. Asian Americans have also faced institutionalized racism, though we do not face similar struggles as Black people do. But in this sense, it goes back to BLM, because I suppose we as Asian Americans should know better regarding how and why to support Black oppression.

If we want to further solidify our stance against oppression, racial injustice, and such, what other methods can organizations use to bring attention to their cause without harming another group’s? More specifically, to Asian American groups?

References:

Iyer, Deepa. (2016, January 18). Why South Asians Must Stand In Solidarity With Black
Rights Movements [Digital Image]. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://theestablishment.co/why-south-asians-must-stand-in-solidarity-with-black-rights-movements-ab0e10b8e4a.

Jung, Soya. (2014, August 20). Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans. Race Files. Retrieved November 17, 2017.

Ramos, S.F. (2016, April 20). Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice. Retrieved November 17, 2017.