Allyship in
Anti-Racist
Online Verbal Art
By:
Sapphire Mendonca
and Joyce Leung
Overview of the Project
In this project, we explore how content creators use verbal art (raps, songs, poems, spoken word etc.) to express their perspectives on racism, anti-racism movements and other related social events. This research question is addressed by examining each verbal art piece’s use of linguistic and narrative techniques, the role of intended (or perceived) audiences, and adoption of social media trends in vocabulary use and discourse content.
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What is Allyship?
From the 300+ verbal art items we analyzed, we found something interesting: in most of the verbal art pieces, there was no one single, explicit definition of allyship. Rather, allyship is expressed as a variety of actions someone can take on an individual, institutional, and societal level.
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Aside from joining anti-racism movements, one of our takeaways from the verbal art content is that it is also important to ask ourselves the meaning of joining such movements in the first place, and the specific impact we are making through our participation. Are we simply joining the movements because “everyone else is doing it”, or is it because we see them being frequently highlighted in mass media? On the other hand, we can also utilize social media as a platform to share information about social movements, and support BIPOC creators and businesses.
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Many of the verbal art pieces also urge us to reflect on the relationships between ourselves and our surrounding communities. In a poem named “Uprise Overdue”, the creator calls on us to “use the privilege that you’ve been handed on a platter, but don’t drown out their voices." When we acknowledge the ways in which one’s race can lead to them being subject to social exclusion and rejection, it enables us to think about how we can amplify the voices of marginalized communities and ensure accessibility in the systems, initiatives, and activities we construct. This acknowledgement of one’s privileges also goes hand in hand with recognizing and learning about the impact of systemic racism on the dehumanizing practices of social institutions, including police brutality and racial profiling.
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As a society, we need to address harmful ideologies that deepen racial bias and discrimination. This starts with pushing for individuals to learn about the genuine meaning and purpose of anti-racism movements, and understand the misconceptions behind the “All Lives Matter” mentality. While the media often perpetuate divisive stereotypes, they also play a powerful role in highlighting their implications that apply to our everyday lives. For educators in schools, confronting their own biases and the impact of pedagogical approaches can be a beneficial way to uphold allyship. Changes that are implemented by educational institutions help ensure that students not only learn about the various forms of racism and the historical contexts behind it, but also ways to confront the issue and show constructive support for marginalized communities.
