Last Saturday, we discussed what it meant to do activism and also what exactly is an activist. We all agreed that for activism to start, there needs to be clear goals that the organizers are trying to reach. Without a clear set of goals, the movement lacks a direction, which makes it unattractive to join a group when there is no sense of purpose. We also agreed that it was okay to quit activism if one feels that they are physically, emotionally, and or mentally spent from all his or her activist work. Furthermore, being an activist does not necessarily mean that you are or will be the spokesperson of the movement, in fact most of the brunt work is done by people who are not the face. There has to be people behind the scenes, organizing everything otherwise the actual goal of the movement will not be achieved.

However, when it came to the notion that every movement needs a face or spokesperson, I disagreed. There have been many social movements that have been successful without a spokesperson. One prominent one today is the Black Lives’ Matter movement. We know that three black women founded the movement, but they are not the “spokesperson/people or face” of the movement. They work largely more behind the scenes and allow the movements goals to precede any fame they could have. I feel that once you give power to a single person it leaves room for people to either exploit this power and or cause people to hold the spokesperson on a high pedestal. Which is why I think it is important to avoid those circumstances and make it more about getting the message out, such as through many influential people on social media. For example, Beyonce’s Formation music video was a great way to show support for the black lives’ matter movement without making her a spokesperson.