I think that the past six weeks have been a huge lesson to college students (and many others) about how to be an activist and participate in civic engagement. It would be near impossible to have not noticed the shift in social media and the spreading information about social justice issues and reform. People have advocated for these policy changes but many have not received this widespread level of attention like it does now. People who once considered themselves “not very political” or “neutral” are actively engaging and realizing that, to quote Desmond Tutu, being “neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Our generation is learning how to recognize and then engage with issues that matter. However, an issue that many are facing, including during DukeEngage, is overstepping and speaking over other people. People can avoid this by only inserting their voice when the issue actually affects their life. If it doesn’t, then you can engage by sharing the voice of someone who IS affected by this issue. A lot of non-Black individuals thought that they had to create a whole statement about their anti-racist or pro-BLM stance. This is more harmful because it clutters social media and makes information, resources, and Black experiences more difficult to find, which should be the focal point of the movement.
