Progressive Activism

Capitalizing on chaos

Kindell Readus readukin000@hsestudents.org Performative activism grows with every new movement it tears down

#Blackouttuesday

Performative activism causes more harm than good, letting ‘allies’ o the hook when it comes to actually progressing the movement at hand. is can be seen most prevalently with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. In 2020, a er the death of George Floyd, there was an in ux of information being spread over social media, through webinars creating constant media coverage but today there is little le to be seen. e conversation around topics like this, around topics deemed as Black issues, have fallen out of white vocabulary, like a trend falling out of style. is type of activism can be characterized as instances of shallow and/or self-serving support for social justice causes. e title of preformative activism calls for a distinction between what is said by these supposed supporters and what they actually do. Writer Tre Johnson, who is publishing a book on the topic in 2023, calls out an important example of preformative activism in one of his latest articles. In his article, Johnson argues that reading is one of the most commonly used tactics that performative allies use to combat racial discrimination. His article points out that while the information to be gained from these books is important, these book clubs dwindle into false promises of change as well as self serving white guilt. is type of activism is never as helpful as it can appear to be. When it comes to movements like BLM, you cannot merely gather in groups with other white people to chat about Black pain in a generalized and grossly oversimpli ed sense. To learn to be more than a preformative ally, it is important to not only think of a situation in a third person perspective, but to also listen and learn from those a ected. Use your privilege of being outside of the situation to step up and bring in more outside support, while also being careful to not step on the toes of those who actually experience the situation at hand. e advice you hear might seem confusing or appear to juxtapose other advice on what white people should do. While it may be frustrating to be told to step up, then to step back; to read, but to listen; to protest, but not overshadow Black protestors. It may very well feel contradictory at times, but you will gure it out. We always do. Black people have always been and will continue to be similarly exhausted. Having to make the case for why they deserve a job, for happiness, equality, justice, for freedom, has made us dizzy. Yet somehow we have managed to walk straight a er all these years of injustice and false promises.