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Chapter Selection From: Tassie, Keisha Edwards and Sonja M. Brown Givens. Women of Color and Social Media Multitasking: Blogs, Timelines, Feeds, and Community. Lexington Books, 2015. SU Library Login Link: EBSCOhost, libezproxy.syr.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=1084756&site=ehost-live.

Chapter 2 Hashtagging from the Margins

Caitlin Gunn Women of Color Engaged in Feminist

Consciousness-Raising on Twitter

Launched in 2006, Twitter is an online social networking platform that allows users to post 140-character “tweets,” real-time messages that create a micro-blogging experience. Though anyone can read public Twitter accounts and feeds, users are required to make accounts in order to tweet and join Twitter conversations. Several different methods of communication are possible on Twitter, from public or private direct messaging between users, public general tweets for one’s followers to consume, information sharing, and participating in trending topics bound by the use of a hashtag (#), a feature which works to consolidate dialogue surrounding a given topic or theme. Through the use of hashtag conversations like #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, #Ferguson, and #BlackLivesMatter, black women, indigenous women, and other women of color have utilized the Twitter platform to express their lived experiences and move their voices from the margins to the center of public feminist discourse. These conversations can be viewed as a consciousness-raising technique, rooted in radical feminist understandings of the second wave, and taken to the digital landscape. Despite the precedent for consciousness-raising activity among feminist groups, there has been significant pushback against hashtags with an intersectional focus created and propagated by women of color on Twitter. These hashtags and conversations have been labelled toxic and damaging to an overall sense of unity in the feminist movement by some mainstream white feminists. For many, the intersectional—and often radical activist—nature of the conversations on Twitter are threatening and overrule the need for consciousness-raising among women of color. Proponents of intersectional feminist hashtag activism as well as[1] those who consider the dialogue detrimental to a unified feminist movement all utilize a variety of online platforms to engage the topic.

The academic literature surrounding Twitter and the communities it encompasses is currently evolving. Relatively few academic articles and books have been written about the way people of color are engaging with social media websites like Twitter, though social media and hashtag activism are increasingly becoming topics of scholarly attention. There are a multitude of places, mainly news websites, feminist and race-related blogs, where these conversations are taking place. Many of the prominent writers who focus on Twitter, identity, and the power of hashtag activism are not academics, but bloggers, journalists, writers, and activists.

This chapter covers the concepts of consciousness-raising in a feminist historical context, and the way feminist consciousness-raising can look on the Twitter platform. There is discussion of “Black Twitter,” and the way activism is fostered and organized in online space. Lastly, a discussion of the more recent debates about the activities of women of color on Twitter are outlined, with attention drawn to the way a feminist consciousness-raising framework can highlight racist and hostile responses to women of color speaking their truths and lived experiences on Twitter and other social media platforms.

LIVED EXPERIENCE AND FEMINIST CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING

However recent the emergence of feminist hashtag activism and cyber-feminism, the concept of speaking to individual lived experiences as political action is not new. Rooted in the radical consciousness-raising efforts of the Women’s Liberation Movement, tweeting about experiences of oppression can be considered a modern response to what is frequently considered a second wave feminist notion that the “personal is political.” One of the first to explore politicizing personal experiences in a women’s liberation context was Carol Hanisch, who wrote the prolific essay “The Personal is Political,” originally appearing in the book Notes from the Second Year: Women’s Liberation; Major

, in 1970. “The Personal is Political” was a defense against the charged and misogynistic critiques of feministWritings of the Radical Feminists consciousness-raising practices and groups. Rejecting the idea that discussing personal issues related to one’s womanhood and the lived experiences of women was simply a kind of “personal therapy,” Hanisch claims that consciousness-raising does not do the work of solving personal problems on an individual level, but rather is a political action with a group solution (Hanisch, “The Personal Is Political”). In the 1960s and 1970s, feminist consciousness-raising was a controversial idea; many within and outside of the feminist movement considered consciousness-raising a practice without substance or true activist impact. Proponents of consciousness-raising argued that there was in fact a radical and political motivation for sharing one’s experiences with oppressive patriarchal structures.

Consciousness-raising was also addressed in Kathie Sarachild’s essay “Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon.” Adapted from her talk given on consciousness-raising in 1973, the essay addresses the necessity of consciousness-raising to the success of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Embracing radicalism as the desire to seek the true roots of problems, Sarachild considers consciousness-raising as “studying the whole gamut of women's lives,” working to see women’s liberation as not only a collective fight or a fight for the benefit of other women, but also as an individual undertaking (Sarachild, “Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon”). Though the personal nature of consciousness-raising was considered by some frivolous, therapeutic rather than political, or downright dangerous and divisive, Sarachild emphasizes the political nature of radical feminist “bitch sessions.” She does clarify that consciousness-raising does not require one particular method, and that it should not be considered an “end in itself” towards the goal of liberation.

A link between cyber-feminism and the radical consciousness-raising work done by second wave feminists was made explicit in an article written by Tracy Kennedy: “The Personal Is Political: Feminist Blogging and Virtual Consciousness-Raising.” Kennedy makes the connection between the “personal is political” understandings of the feminist movement and the modern feminist Internet experience, claiming that feminist blogging provides spaces for consciousness-raising and community building. She notes that the exclusionary attitudes prevalent in the second wave feminist movement may not have carried over into online feminist spaces, where traditionally marginalized voices have more opportunities to be heard in the center of feminist discourse:

Feminism has changed considerably over the last thirty years; the days when groups of women met in person to discuss their personal experiences of social inequities are now few and far between. Consciousness-raising groups were pivotal to the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s, despite the exclusionary tendencies many of them displayed—particularly toward women of color, lesbians, and disabled women. (Kennedy 2007)

Like the feminist blogging experience Kennedy reflects upon, Twitter has served a similar purpose for a multitude of different communities and groups. Framing the actions of women of color on Twitter as feminist consciousness-raising serves a specific purpose: to contextualize this kind of activity within feminist discourse, to make it legible to those more familiar with feminist studies and feminist studies concepts and terminology. Women of color do not need to think of their collective dialogue and activism on Twitter as “consciousness-raising” in order for it to be valuable or effective. Rather, this is a grammar that aids mainstream feminists in seeing how critiques of Black Twitter and women of color on Twitter frequently carry the same racist, exclusionary, and othering language and attention from white, mainstream feminism and predominantly white media coverage. In consciousness-raising groups of the past, women of color often felt more than simply “excluded,” as

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Kennedy suggests; they were silenced, dismissed, belittled, and treated with violence once they gained entry into consciousness-raising groups. The racism and violence rampant in consciousness-raising groups of the second wave is echoed in the reactions of many white feminists to the consciousness-raising efforts of women of color on Twitter.

HASHTAG ACTIVISM

Since the beginnings of hashtag activist efforts, there have been many who see this type of engagement as a lackluster tactic that does more for the egos of individual social media users than it does on a macro level. The origin of the term “hashtag activism” is debated, but the first widespread usages of the phrase were associated with the #Occupy movement during the Occupy Wall Street protests, and with social media use and restriction in the Middle East during the Arab Spring. Similar to the discussion of the value of consciousness-raising efforts among feminists, the debate over digital activism is primarily concerned with the concrete results of online campaigns. As Dennis McCafferty mentions in “Activism vs. Slacktivism,” his article in , “No one disputes that activists’ online efforts draw greaterCommunications of the ACM attention to a cause, but opinion varies with respect to whether they make a significant, lasting impact” (McCafferty 2011). For women of color engaged in consciousness-raising on Twitter, two major responses to the “slacktivist” label are relevant. The first response realizes that people of color have in fact been able to use Twitter campaigns to make real-world changes. Secondly, the motivation of sharing lived experiences on Twitter, to center the experiences, lives, and voices of women of color in the public setting of Twitter is not always explicitly to enact immediate offline political or social change. It is not even intended in all cases to raise awareness of any particular issue or societal concern, but rather to do the work of raising one’s own consciousness, and to be in dialogue with other women of color engaged in similar pursuits.

TWITTER, WOMEN, AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR

Twitter has become an online cultural nucleus for people of color in many ways. In a report from the Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project, statistics on Twitter users were released. As of August 2013, 18% of online adults were on Twitter, rising from just 8% in November 2010. As opposed to just 14% of White Internet users who are on Twitter, 27% of Black Internet users have active Twitter accounts (Brenner & Smith 2013). Those statistics reflect a phenomenon that has been labelled “Black Twitter.” Black Twitter, as described by popular Black feminist and Black Twitter figure Feminista Jones, “can be described as a collective of active, primarily African-American Twitter users who have created a virtual community that participates in continuous real-time conversations” (Jones 2013). In her article for the news website , “Is Twitter the Underground Railroad of Activism?” Jones addresses the increased interest in Black Twitter following the eventsSalon of the George Zimmerman trial in 2013, noting that Black people had utilized the platform as both a place to voice personal reactions to the events of the trial, and to mobilize physical protests. In support of Black Twitter organizing efforts, Jones writes “When they work together, this collective is proving adept at bringing about a wide range of sociopolitical changes. It doesn’t take much effort to get users to rally together behind causes that may have an impact on their lives” (Jones 2013).

Soraya McDonald, writing for , also considers Black Twitter a movement for both personal consciousness-raisingThe Washington Post and social organizing. She promotes the idea that Black Twitter helps to move conversations about the Black experience from the margins to the center of the public sphere in her article “Black Twitter: A Virtual Community Ready to Hashtag out a Response to Cultural Issues.” McDonald notes the significance of those centered conversations:

Perhaps the most significant contribution of Black Twitter is that it increases visibility of black people online, and in doing so, dismantles the idea that white is standard and everything else is “other.” It’s a radical demand for acceptance by simply existing—or sometimes dominating—in a space and being yourself, without apology or explanation. (McDonald 2014)

Black Twitter, however, is not a stable or universally accepted concept. Engaging more deeply with identity and race on the Internet, Sanjay Sharma complicates ideas about Black Twitter in his article “Black Twitter? Racial Hashtags Networks and Contagion,” written for New

(Sharma 2013). He claims that Black Twitter is a difficult entity to define, and that “It has become apparent that online race isFormations complex and mutable” (Sharma 2013). He is invested in unpacking the technosocial production and performance of race, looking specifically at hashtags that rise to popularity on Black Twitter. Acknowledging that race is a difficult concept to research online, Sharma writes “The rapidly expanding digital landscape poses a challenge to researchers, as the ‘real-time’ speed, propagation, and irruptions of race online create a presentism that seemingly resists critical analysis” (Sharma 2013).

Even among those who do explicitly endorse hashtag activism, hashtag feminism, and cyber-feminism as a type of radical consciousness-raising, there is controversy surrounding the way women of color have organized on Twitter. Many have openly critiqued what they consider divisive arguments, name-calling, and attacks on mainstream or “white” feminism as damaging to the feminist cause. One notable example was the article published by Michelle Goldberg, writing for : “Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars.” Within, she notesThe Nation that pushback against feminist hashtags, particularly #FemFuture, coined by a small group of women attending a gathering at Banard College to discuss the “online revolution” of feminist activity in the blogosphere, was silencing women who would otherwise speak if not for fear of harassment, presumably from women of color via Twitter (Goldberg 2014). Within, she notes the emotional toll that comes from one’s feminism being attacked on Twitter:

Even as online feminism has proved itself a real force for change, many of the most avid digital feminists will tell you that it’s become toxic. Indeed, there’s a nascent genre of essays by people who feel emotionally savaged by their involvement in it—not because of sexist trolls, but because of the slashing righteousness of other feminists. (Goldberg 2014)

Despite Goldberg’s attempts to reinforce concepts of frightening, bullying minorities tormenting white feminists whose unintentional racial aggressions are met with seemingly disproportionate rage and hostility throughout her article, she does acknowledge the history and lived reality of the racism in mainstream feminism when she writes, “There’s a shorthand way of talking about online feminist arguments that pits middle-class white women against all the groups they oppress. Clearly, there’s some truth here: privileged white people dominate feminism, just as they do most other sectors of American life” (Goldberg 2014).

Despite criticism from those who dismiss Twitter activity as superfluous, or those within the mainstream feminist movement claiming women of color have created a toxic environment on Twitter, many appreciate feminist and womanist consciousness-raising efforts for which women of color have created space. Suey Park, Twitter icon and creator of #NotYourAsianSidekick and #CancelColbert awareness campaigns on Twitter, frequently took on the critics of hashtag feminist efforts through her own Twitter feed and through her writing. In dialogue with Michelle Goldberg’s piece on the divisive nature of what she considers racially motivated “Twitter wars,” Suey Park and David Leonard pinpoint the racist underpinnings of Goldberg’s critiques and move towards a more positive and holistic understanding of what feminists of color are doing with social media in their article “In Defense of Twitter Feminism” published on , writing: “In aModel View Culture world where the voices of white middle-class heterosexual men and women are privileged, it is striking that Twitter, one of the few spaces that

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allows for counter-narratives and resistance, is now facing a barrage of criticism” (Park & Leonard 2014). Further suggesting that some white feminists fear what women of color are discussing, Park and Leonard write:

In a world where whiteness means presumed innocence, safety, and entrance there is born a fear of anything contrary to unquestionable authority. The reaction white feminists are having to women of color feminists entering Twitter tends to problematize those who point out racism rather than question the integrity of the framework being critiqued. (Park & Leonard 2014)

Mikki Kendall is a popular black feminist on Twitter who was described as “both famous and feared in Internet feminist circles,” in Michelle Goldberg’s article in (Goldberg 2014). Kendall, who is also an online writer, blogger, and activist, created theThe Nation #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen hashtag out of what she calls a “moment of frustration” (Kendall 2013). That moment spawned a worldwide trending discussion about the way that women of color have felt oppressed, marginalized, and subjugated by mainstream feminism, historically and in daily life. In an article for , “#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen: Women of Color’s Issue with Digital Feminism,”The Guardian Kendall writes:

It appeared that these feminists [on Twitter] were, once again, dismissing women of color in favor of a brand of solidarity that centers on the safety and comfort of white women. For it to be at the expense of people who were doing the same work was exceptionally aggravating. (Kendall 2013)

Admittedly, this isn’t a new problem: white feminism has argued that gender should trump race since its inception. That rhetoric not only erases the experiences of women of color, but also alienates many from a movement that claims to want equality for all. (Kendall 2013)

Kendall articulates both the usefulness of Twitter conversations for women of color, and acknowledges the frequently tense relations between mainstream feminism and women on the margins of feminist dialogue when she writes:

An honest conversation between feminists about feminism and its future is happening, and like every truly honest discussion of differences, it has been incredibly contentious. Hopefully, it will also be productive: despite the natural brevity encouraged by Twitter, any conversation that can span a full day must generate some change. (Kendall 2013)

There is a significant gap in academic writing about hashtag activism and women of color, most likely a result of the current, fast-paced, and ever-evolving nature of Twitter activity. Twitter is a platform being used by women of color in complex and powerful ways, many of which are positive and consciousness-raising, and draw negative attention and resistance from a variety of sources, frequently including mainstream white feminists. Twitter conversations aid in moving marginalized voices to the center of feminist discourse to the public sphere, despite the challenges presented by critics of their frameworks, language, and methods.

Women of color on Twitter tend to engage with consciousness-raising and activism in three major, frequently overlapping, ways: hashtag campaigns, expressions of lived experiences, and online mobilization for offline action. All three serve specific roles in the feminist Twitter experience for women of color, and utilize different tools and techniques to facilitate dialogue and consciousness-raising.

HASHTAG CAMPAIGNS

Hashtag campaigns are large-scale conversations on a single topic unified symbolically and practically by the use of a hashtag (#). Most frequently, they emerge as a response to stimuli either online or as a reaction to current events. Women of color are responsible for creating and “trending” many hashtags that sought to raise consciousness of different feminist issues in different feminist groups. One such example is #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, created by Mikki Kendall as a response to her frustrations with the frequently racist mainstream feminist concept of solidarity. A moment of Kendall’s frustration turned into a nationwide trending topic, with thousands of tweets submitted using the hashtag. Some of Kendall’s tweets on the subject are listed below, with references to the ways the notion of feminist solidarity is only functional within a white feminist context. Specifically, she mentions excluding Native American women from conversations about rape culture, the concerns over police brutality in the black community, and an incident in which young black actress Quvenzhané Wallis was called a “cunt” in a crass attempt at humor on popular satirical news source The Onion’s twitter feed the night of the 2013 Oscar awards and was defended against the criticism of women of color by white feminists:

I know #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when NDN women can’t get so much as a mention in discussions of rape culture. (Mikki Kendall, Twitter Post, August 12, 2013)

I know #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when the murder of #RekiaBoyd doesn’t merit so much as a mention in the press. (Mikki Kendall, Twitter Post, August 12, 2013)

I know #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when Big Name Feminism thinks it’s funny to call a nine year old black girl a cunt. (Mikki Kendall, Twitter Post, August 12, 2013)

Hashtag campaigns can take on many different tones and attitudes. The most serious tweets and Twitter conversations, like those relating to recent deaths and tragedies in communities of color, specifically of Trayvon Martin, Rekia Boyd, Renisha McBride, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown, are frequently striking and dark, using radical language to illicit a response or express the devastation of racism. Hashtags that use a humorous or satirical tone are no less striking, powerful in their ability to use laughter to underscore delicate points about oppressive power structures. Usually using this type of poignant humor, hashtag campaigns have been a highly effective method of “calling out” celebrities and public figures for racist, sexist, or otherwise troubling comments or behavior. Paula Deen, Robin Thicke, Don Lemon, Josh Zepps, Morgan Freeman, and Justine Sacco have all been targets of this type of campaign following their statements that were perceived as racist, sexist, or both by those affiliated with Black Twitter and other facets of people of color on Twitter. For example, in December of 2013, black feminist Twitter users responded to singer Ani DiFranco’s plans to hold her feminist songwriting “Righteous Retreat” at the site of a former slave plantation with harsh criticism. Due to the outcry about the lack of consideration for black women’s history and historical traumas, an initially reluctant DiFranco cancelled the retreat and issued an online apology (McDonald 2014).

Hashtag campaigns do not need to trend or gain vast popularity to support feminist consciousness-raising effectively. The hashtag #NotYourStockMuslim, for example, worked on a much smaller scale to illuminate stereotypes about Muslims prevalent in American culture.

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In a tweet posted by Eeman Cheema, she comments on the way Islam has been made to seem incongruent with feminism, and how those around her have considered her feminism a form of rebellion against her religious tradition: “Feminism is not my ‘rebellion.’ My parents raised me this way. #NotYourStockMuslim” (Eman Cheema, Twitter Post, March 24, 2014).

Another recent use of Twitter for consciousness-raising was seen in August of 2014, following the results of the trial for Renisha McBride’s homicide. McBride, a young, unarmed, black woman, had sought help after crashing her car and made her way onto the porch of a nearby home in a suburb of Detroit. The homeowner opened the door and shot her in the head. Many suspected that the murder charges would be dismissed as they were in the Zimmerman trial, and felt justice had been served when a guilty verdict was issued. The Associated Press issued this tweet following the verdict: “MORE: Suburban Detroit homeowner convicted of second-degree murder for killing woman who showed up drunk on porch” (Associated Press, Twitter Post, August 7, 2014).

Offended by the flippant tone and percieved prejudice of the Associated Press’ response, people of color responded with the satirical hashtag campaign #APHeadlines. The tweets that followed, sent in by a multitude of people regardless of race or gender, reflected the historical prejudices leveled against people of color. Satirical in nature, the darkly humorous tweets call upon historical events and people like Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Tuskeege medical experiements on black men, and the ongoing police brutality against men and women of color. As an example of this darkly humorous and critical satire, Twitter user Afro State Of Mind tweeted: “Officer’s fists bloodied by aggressive black face belonging to innocent bystander. #APHeadlines” (Twitter User @Afrostateofmind, Twitter Post, August 7, 2014).

#BlackLivesMatter is another hashtag campaign which emerged in 2014 as a response to social, political, and legal events surrounding the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police officers. #BlackLivesMatter has become a rallying cry for a movement arguably born on Twitter and on black social media outlets. The hashtag was originally created by three queer women of color: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, and it is associated with hashtags #Ferguson, #HandsUpDontShoot, and #ICantBreathe. #BlackLivesMatter encompasses critiques of police violence, white supremacy, and personal and systemic experiences of racism in the United States. A multi-media approach proved incredibly valuable for people participating in those hashtags, as images, music, poetry, videos, and historical documents were shared, frequently in order to draw comparisons between black historical moments in the country, particularly during the Civil Rights Movement, and the kinds of trauma and activism occurring in Ferguson and nationwide.

MOBILIZATION TOWARD OFFLINE ACTION

Feminist Twitter and Black Twitter frequently use the social media platform to take online consciousness-raising and activism to the offline world. This is done by both direct planning for offline action, and by responding to offline political and social conditions or events. Women and people of color are using Twitter in large numbers to express a variety of responses to offline events. Protests, rallies, demonstrations, and logistics of on-the-ground action have all been organized via Twitter, especially during the #BlackLivesMatter movement. One such incident of Twitter affecting offline change was shortly after the George Zimmerman trial. Women of color contributed to a campaign to eliminate the possibility of a book deal for juror B37 in the Zimmerman trial, resistant to the idea that someone would profit from the death of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin. Within hours of the initial Twitter activity, the book deal was called off (McDonald 2014).

Alicia Garza writes of the movements and contributions that took #BlackLivesMatter beyond a simple hashtag in an essay written for The :Feminist Wire

We were humbled when cultural workers, artists, designers, and techies offered their labor and love to expand #BlackLivesMatter beyond a social media hashtag. Opal, Patrisse, and I created the infrastructure for this movement project—moving the hashtag from social media to the streets. Our team grew through a very successful Black lives matter ride, led and designed by Patrisse Cullors and Darnell L. Moore, organized to support the movement that is growing in St. Louis, Missouri, after eighteen-year old Mike Brown was killed at the hands of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. We’ve hosted national conference calls focused on issues of critical importance to Black people working hard for the liberation of our people. We’ve connected people across the country working to end the various forms of injustice impacting our people. We’ve created space for the celebration and humanization of Black lives. (Garza 2014)

LIVED EXPERIENCES

A common way of tweeting, expressing lived experiences as they relate to systems of oppression is another way women of color work to raise consciousness on the social media platform. This form of tweeting may or may not include hashtags, but generally aim to promote ideas and topics that people of color grapple with in their lives and communities. Personal experiences, critiques, and reflections upon the experiences of people of color are all considered “lived experience” tweets in this context. Tweets posted by women of color that speak to lived experience can look like the following sample of Twitter posts, but are not limited to these expressions:

Bretastical: My grandmother is in tears. Tears. She said they marched because she didn’t want us to have to. And now look. (Twitter User @_MissBre, Twitter Post, December 3, 2014)

Ijeoma Oluo: Until people stop ignoring the high rate of sexual and physical abuse that black women face everyday. (Ijeoma Oluo, Twitter Post, February 11, 2015)

Ayesha Siddiqi: After a certain point helping people survive white supremacy is far more worthwhile than explaining it to white people. (Ayesha Sidiqqi, Twitter Post, November 1, 2014)

Elle La Negra: The women I follow on here have been my life’s blood. How do I explain how strangers have inspired me with their struggles + triumphs? (Twitter User @FireInFreetown, Twitter Post, December 29, 2014)

Being able to express the daily realities of moving through the world as a woman of color is a worthy enough consideration in assessing the value of Twitter for consciousness-raising. That value is further increased as women of color communicate with one another directly, coming to view fellow Twitter users as a support system. Artist, writer, and sociocultural critic Zahira Kelly, known on Twitter as @bad_dominicana, communicates this sentiment in her tweet: “that is what we do here on twitter too. it often becomes a group therapy/discussion/theorizing session on the fly. u don’t generate that” (Zahia Kelly, Twitter Post, December 1, 2014).

TWITTER: A TOOL FOR CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND ACTIVISMC

op yr ig ht @ 2 01 5. L ex in gt on B oo ks .

Twitter is a social tool deserving of more scholarly attention as it continues to serve as an open platform for centering the frequently marginalized voices of women of color. Beyond the value that feminist consciousness-raising discussions can have for theoretical and personal engagement, we also see Twitter being used to mobilize offline activism and serve as a catalyst for real-world feminist and anti-racist community engagement. The events in Ferguson and across the country have illuminated a vibrant online community able to transform consciousness-raising efforts into powerful offline action. In the midst of a social movement, Twitter is a driving force in the current discourse about race and gender in this country. The efforts of women of color engaged with consciousness-raising have created the scaffolding and community for supporting a social movement for this unique historical moment.

NOTE

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Zinn, Maxine Baca, and Bonnie Thornton Dill. “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism.” 22, no. 2 (1996):Feminist Studies 321–31. doi: 10.2307/3178416. 1. Hashtag activism being here defined as activist efforts that take place online, or utilize online networks to promote communication, action, or awareness.

Co py ri gh t @ 20 15 . Le xi ng to n Bo ok s.

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