Social Activism

In history, there have been many social changes that have occurred like the industrial revolution, the abolition of slavery and the Civil Right Movement. The less powerful not having enough voices to overcome the obstacles being erected by the powerful and many more examples. These voices play a major role when it comes to making big political and social changes. In “Return to Hayneville,” Gregory Orr recounts his experience and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He argues that vocal campaigns and movements in public discourse and deep connections within people, help bring about change in today’s society. Whereas, In Vivian Yee, Alan Blinder and Jonah Engel Bromwich, “Parkland Students Start a Social Movement” they bring

In 1960, the spontaneous decision of four North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College Freshmen to request service at a Woolworth’s lunch counter sparked the national sit-in movement. The TV news broadcast images of their

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have allowed their users to stay connected with others more than ever before. Although, when it comes to social and political activism, these sites are the least effective method for change. The creation of these social media sites has made many people believe that, by spreading their “knowledge” and information to their followers and fellow networkers, they can easily solve an issue that has risen in society; however, Malcolm Gladwell, staff member of The New Yorker magazine, disagrees. In his essay, Gladwell opens with a description of the Greensboro sit-ins. He emphasizes how effectively members participating

Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker essay “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” argues against the necessity of digital communication and social media as impetus for societal change. In his article, Gladwell references the famous 1960 Woolworths protest, sparked by four black college students who were refused service at a lunch counter. Gladwell uses this event as a framework for his argument that digital communication and social media do not mobilize individuals to act in more than superficial ways to social justice causes. Gladwell equates social

In his article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, published in the New York Times on October 2010, Malcolm Gladwell looks closely into the notion of social change and the different means to achieve it. He makes a clear distinction between traditional activism, which implies sacrifices and physical devotion, and current activism, based on social networks. The writer considers that “social media can’t provide what social change has always required” (Gladwell, paragraph 1).

One of the main arguments in Malcolm Gladwell's "Small Change" is that social media has a huge impact on activism positively and negatively.In the 1960's it took 10s of thousands of people to come to make a change like the sit-ins but now with twitter and facebook, people just have to group together and contact the network they want, to make changes.It's a lot safer to get a point across on social media then taking the risks people took back then to get a point across. Social media has no real sense of authority so they don't make as much of a movement as the N.A.A.C.P did. With social media comes no organization or structure which causes false information to be passed around. In the end, both types of activism have their positive and negative

“Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” by Malcolm Gladwell focuses on previous examples of activism that occurs with and without the use of social media. The first event he talks about is the Greensboro, North Carolina sit in. To sum of the event, 4 African American college students were denied service. During this time the Civil Rights Movement was taking place, so the African American community were fighting against being segregated and discriminated everywhere they went. This event was used in Gladwell’s favor to show that this event happened without the help of social media. Gladwell uses the story of a person in need of a bone marrow transplant to explain how thousands of people got to sign up for the campaign. The simple

Malcolm Gladwell’s article "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not be Tweeted" raises a significant question about the prospective contribution of web-based social networking to the advent of progressive social movement and change. Gladwell bold declaration that "the revolution will not be tweeted" is reflective of his view that social media has no useful application in serious activism. Contrasting various elements of the “high-stakes” lunch-counter protests in Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1960’s with the “low-stakes” activism achieved through social media, Gladwell concludes that effective social movements powerful enough to impose change on longstanding societal forces require both “strong ties” among participants and the

Before the group even hosted their own sit-in, it was brought to their attention that there was sit-ins happening all over the country. The group having already accomplished a test sit-in and an actual sit-in were suddenly warned by Nashville’s Chief of Police that anyone participating in additional protests would now be arrested. Even with the knowledge of the consequences they refused to stop, “We knew we couldn’t let the threat of violence stop us” (Lewis and Aydin 1:98). They had knowledge of the consequences and still didn’t have the desire to freeze their protests. Unsurprisingly, The Nashville Student Movement’s sit-ins taking place at multiple locations throughout town the next day grew violent much more rapidly than usual. The attacks, beatings, and humiliation began almost immediately, and the police were mysteriously absent during it all. Once the mob had tired themselves out, the police miraculously appeared and arrested the protestors. As the police were driving them away, the words “We Shall Overcome Someday” (Lewis and Aydin 1:103), were being proudly sung to the world from the back seat of the paddy wagons. Deep in all their hearts, they enthusiastically believed that they would one day conquer the challenges of

The success of the boycott of the Montgomery buses and the court case Brown vs. Board of education led African Americans into the 1960’s with the belief that non-violent protest and legal action could make a difference. In the beginning of the 1960’s, students held sit in’s at segregated lunch counters throughout the south. February 1st 1960, was the day of the first sit in at a segregated lunch counter. Four seventeen year old freshman at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro- Franklin Mccain, Ezell Blair Jr., Joseph Mcneil, and David Richmond- peacefully and politely took seats at the lunch counter and asked for coffee. “By the end of the month similar protest were beginning in thirty one cities and seven southern states” (“The

Another significant transformation took place in the Civil Rights Movement in terms of its strategies. In analyzing this facet of the movement, we notice a great shift from nonviolent demonstration to forward, forceful action. Specifically, at the start of the Civil Rights Movement, lunch counter sit-ins were evident throughout the nation, as were Freedom Riders. Starting in Greensboro, North Carolina at a luncheonette called Woolworths, young black citizens would seat

After years of remaining silent and waiting for their rights, all the while living in a society that viewed and treated them as inferior, many African Americans were cautious. And not without reason, they had seen the violence that was dealt when a black person acted out of turn. But some of the virtues of youth are recklessness and an acute sense of justice, exactly what was needed to help a beginning civil rights movement. The youth understood that “some [struggles] are a necessary part of the great movement we are making toward freedom” and that “there can never be growth without growing pains (King, 1956).” In 1962 students at Miles College initiated a boycott against downtown merchants and mobilized the support of many other African Americans (King, 2000, p. 50). The young people’s sense of justice served them well in the face of serious consequences. One young man, after being forbade by his father to participate in the marches in Birmingham, said, “If you try to keep me home, I will sneak off. If you think I deserve to be punished for that, I’ll just have to take the punishment. For, you see, I’m not doing this only because I want to be free. I’m doing it because I want freedom for you and Mama, and I want it to come before you die (p. 116).” This sense of duty despite consequences of young people allowed the civil rights movement to fulfill the Gandhian principle of “fill up the jails.” The “radical”

Jessica Nichelson English 101 Essay 5 Mrs. Cain Activism at Its Finest The author Malcolm Gladwell wrote the article, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.”, discusses many interesting topics throughout the reading. The comparison of activism from the 1960’s to today has dramatically changed. This essay appeared in the New Yorker on October 14th, 2010. Another accomplishment of Gladwell is that he was named Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2005.

What determines a movement? Malcolm Gladwell defines what pushes a movement to make a difference. He analyzes the concept of “strong ties” and “weak ties” and how these relationships affect an individual’s willpower and determination to help a cause. Gregory Orr puts these ideas into context in his memoir, “Return to Hayneville”, in which he recounts his experience and involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, focuses, in particular, on the civil rights movement concentrates to the lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina. Gladwell’s ideas and opinions of social and political emancipations are given a real world setting, as

The popularity of sit-ins can be reflected in the involvement of the N.A.A.C.P. (The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People). An article published by the New York Times talks about planned demonstrations that will occur in New York City which will be headed by the N.A.A.C.P (Robinson 54). This example shows how large the movement had become by summer 1961 because a nationally recognized organization was already actively involved in demonstrating. Another article, printed in late 1961, reports that the national director of the Congress of Racial Equality would begin planned sit-ins nation wide, with a focus in the South and the Midwest (“Negroes to Broaden” 18). This again proves how effective sit-ins were because a nationally recognized organization was taking the movement and organizing a nation wide effort to end discrimination.