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So, today, I want to talk a little bit about
why I, at least, personally, believe that
online activism is valid.
And in case you don't really know what that is,
it's essentially activism done online, on the internet,
so you might see people signing petitions, writing articles
or you might see people making YouTube videos.
So, I'm someone who does this.
I make videos about deaf awareness,
accessibility, mental health.
People like Kat Blaque talk about
racism and transphobia,
other people talking about LGBT issues.
Just, you know, lots of different marginalised people
or, you know, just activists in general
talking about social issues online.
If reading is more of your thing,
I do have a whole article written on Medium,
so I'll link that down below so you can go check it out
if you want to go take a look.
So, a lot of people consider this kind of thing
to be "slacktivism"
because they think that,
if you don't actually go out and join a protest
or, you know, vote or all that kind of stuff,
you're not really advocating for anything,
you're not really participating in any real activism,
you're just being lazy.
And, OK, maybe some people are kind of being lazy about it.
I haven't really seen much, personally.
But I just, for me, I don't really believe
that it's all "slacktivism".
So, let's talk about social media.
That's really a big one.
So, whether it's making videos about it
or writing about it,
going on Twitter, Facebook, etc, etc.
Let's be honest here.
Social media has either changed a lot
or has, at least,
made people more knowledgeable about somethings
so that they can work to try to change it in the future.
So, I and other deaf people have made videos upon videos
about deaf awareness, closed captions
and so many people who didn't know about this and that
know about this and that.
So, videos about captions,
people, more people on YouTube are making videos
and having them captioned.
If you're new on this channel and didn't know,
three years ago,
Tyler Oakley came across one of my videos
and posted his own video about captions
and that blew up to at least a million people, I want to say.
And then, not too long after that video,
Lilly Singh, aka Superwoman,
brought that up in a tweet and that was pretty awesome.
So, it just got more and more people aware of deaf people,
accessibility and captions.
And, you know, we've seen videos of police
who don't really do what they're supposed to be doing,
who commit police brutality,
and, while we may have always had an idea of that happening,
we have more of an idea now
because people are uploading videos about it happening,
and not just about it happening, like, talking about it,
but we actually see it in action.
You know, we brought up
how society tends to treat deaf people, disabled people,
LGBT people, people of colour, trans people,
just so many different types of people.
And I have to say, before social media, before the internet,
I didn't really know a whole lot.
I mean, I didn't even really know a whole lot about myself,
you know, as a deaf person learning about deaf history.
I didn't know a whole lot until the internet came about,
or, at least, until I started taking it more seriously
and the internet was already there but you know.
So, yeah, hearing or reading other people's stories
really opened my eyes and my mind
to a lot of different things
that I didn't think about before,
or I may have thought about it before
but my views back then would be more oppressive
than what they are now.
So, yeah, for me, I think social media does a whole lot of good.
It does a whole lot of bad, as well,
but, you know, to say that it doesn't really do anything,
to say that it's just being lazy,
I don't personally think that that's true.
But now let's talk about how accessible real protesting,
like, in-person, physical protesting,
I guess, however you want to call it,
let's talk about how inaccessible that can be.
For disabled people,
it's not really all that accessible for a few reasons.
So, one, so, from a deaf perspective, let's say,
if I were to go to a protest,
I've been to one or two in my life,
there's not a whole lot of accessibility there,
in terms of, say, captions or ASL interpreters.
So, if I'm kind of standing there
and somebody is giving this big speech,
I don't really know what's being said
so how do I really know what I'm fighting for?
I mean, if it's posted on Facebook,
you kind of get an idea, you see the signs,
but, if somebody's giving even more information,
I want to be able to understand that type of thing,
and it's really kind of difficult to do
being there in person
and not really understanding what's going on.
And for more physical disabled people,
I have friends who use wheelchairs
and canes to get around and...
Well, I have chronic pain myself
so I can't stand or walk around for a whole lot,
not for a long period of time, usually,
without getting into a little bit of pain,
and, with there being so many people,
if it's a huge protest, with there being so many people,
it can be difficult to get around
if you need a rest, it can be difficult to sit down
if you need to rest
and a lot of people sometimes don't take too kindly
to disabled people in the middle of a protest.
I believe it was Tatiana and Andrea
who went to a protest about something,
I can't remember, it might have been about immigration,
and people were making really rude comments
and asking things like, "Why are you here?
"You're in this wheelchair.
Like, you're just getting in the way.
"You're holding up the line for everybody else,"
and it's like...
Really? Is that really necessary?
That sounds so rude, you know?
And, you know, there's a lack of sidewalk for wheelchair users
and, I mean, there may be a sidewalk
but there's a high chance that a lot of abled people
are kind of taking over the sidewalk,
and, OK, that's fine, at least I think,
from what I know from others,
but, if somebody who is in a wheelchair needs that sidewalk
because sometimes roads are not so great,
sometimes they don't want to move
and that makes it difficult for, say,
someone like Tatiana to get involved
and get through when she can't even move.
And there's also a safety hazard
when it comes to disabled people
being in these in-person protests.
And let me throw a disclaimer in here.
Obviously, everyone has a risk of being injured
but the risk is a little bit higher for disabled people.
So, for example, let's say somebody hops in
with their gun and shoots it
or there's, like, I don't know, a knife-wielding person,
and some people may be able to hear the gunshots,
some people might not be able to,
so, as a deaf person, I may be confused
if I'm not able to hear it.
Maybe I might be able to but I imagine that,
with a whole bunch of chanting going on,
it might get muffled in
because I have a very hard time if I hear something
and it's a lot going on at once,
I'm not gonna be able to really separate the sound.
So, there's a gunshot and everybody's running around,
I'm just like, 'OK, I have no idea what's going on,'
and I'm like, I'm just, like, looking around,
like, 'Hey, what's going on?'
And, well, there's a risk that I'm gonna get shot
because I'm standing around like,
uh, like a headless chicken,
like, 'Hey, hey, what's going on? How you doin'?'
Bad thing.
And maybe somebody's, like,
trying to give instructions on, like, what to do, where to go,
I'm not gonna be able to understand that type of thing.
So, it's a little bit of a safety risk
and I get a little bit scared getting involved
just because I may not understand what's going on
if something bad is going to happen.
And also a safety risk for disabled people
who use wheelchairs, canes to get around,
a lot of people running around all at once
makes it more difficult for the person in the wheelchair
to get around more efficiently
because everybody's gonna start running around,
they'll probably bump into the wheelchair, trip over
or everybody's just, like, kind of blocking the view,
puts a disabled person at risk.
And, obviously, I'm someone
who likes everyone to be able to get a chance to get to safety
and, obviously, that chance is a little less than
for someone who just isn't going to be able to move efficiently.
So, those are the main points that I can think of.
I am all for in-person protesting.
I think it's a great thing
and it can really get a message out there.
But, at the same time, I also recognise
and I hope that I hope you all recognise,
who weren't aware of this,
that sometimes it's not always possible to do that
and can be a little unsafe
and, in order to be able to get the message out
but also be safe about it,
sometimes online activism is the way to go.
If you have any thoughts on the matter,
you're more than welcome to leave them down below.
Fellow disabled people,
if you have other reasons as to why in-person protesting
may not be the safest route for you,
feel free to leave them down below,
so, that way, more people can get educated on that matter.
And now, before you go, if you haven't,
consider being a pledge on Patreon.
It's a great way to support your
favourite creators' content.
From me, you get things like music playlists,
written pieces you won't see anywhere else
and Pen Pal letters if you pledge high enough.
And I will see you later. Bye.