Form Of Activism: Right Or Wrong?

Harriet Tubman was among the greatest fighters for justice in her time and was an inspiration to others to fight for what they believe in, but she along with many others who fight experienced it themselves. When she was younger, “She knew that her brothers and sisters, her father and mother, and all the other people who lived in the quarter, men, women and children, were slaves. At the same time, someone had taught her where to look for the North Star, the star that stayed constant, not rising in the east and setting in the west as the other stars appeared to do; and told her that anyone walking toward the North could use that star as a guide. She knew about fear, too. Sometimes at night, or during the day, she heard the furious galloping of horses, not just one horse, several horses, thud of the hoofbeats along the road, jingle of harness. She saw the grown folks freeze into stillness, not moving, scarcely breathing, while they listened. She could not remember who first told her that those furious hoofbeats meant the patrollers were going past, in pursuit of a runaway. Only the slaves said patterollers, whispering the word” (Petry). Living with her family as a slave, she learned all the things she needed to know to do her job in the future as the conductor of the Underground Railroad, she learned about the North star, and she learned about how you should not get caught by the patrollers. Perturbed by the thought of the fate of her family and her future, she escaped to Philadelphia but “Rather than remaining in the safety of the North, Tubman made it her mission to rescue her family and others living in slavery via the Underground Railroad” (Biography.com editors). She made it her mission to save others and take

It’s easy to understand why people think that social media activism is “lazy”, "We found that when consumers gave public support, they were no more likely to provide more meaningful support for the cause than if someone was just randomly asked for the larger request." (Activism or Slacktivism) The worst thing that comes from social opinions and organizations being so easily-accessible on the web is people giving a simple “like” or share and that being the extent of their support. While this can be discouraging, there are still many people the page or tweet can reach and influence. Someone can see that their friend liked a page in support of Black Lives Matter or something similar, and even a small gesture like that can convince them to join the cause. That difference

Today, people seem blinded by their outsized enthusiasm for social media. According to them, a few clicks can change the whole world and accomplish wonders such as curing cancer. Good intentions become sufficient on their own, as if there were no need for medicine and scientific researches anymore. Well, this is pure nonsense. Facebook’s likes cannot save African children from starvation, the same way Twitter’s 140 characters will not put an end to acts of terrorism. This notion is not even remotely debatable. For instance, the project Kony2012 had a perfect starting point; inspiring video, moving story and most importantly worldwide spread. Unfortunately, the terrorist is still at liberty, and the lack of thorough investigations is to blame. Instead of focusing on the real problems of war and kidnapping of children, the so-called activist related to the obvious and spent all of his money and energy on his movie. Ultimately, due to the predominance of weak-ties, the project was not successful. More importantly, certain tools of social networks, especially “likes” and “retweets”, encourage people to feel good about themselves, when actually they should incite them to put their efforts and means in the cause they supposedly defend. As Gladwell wrote, “[current] activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that

She even jeopardized her own safety to help guide all these people. Because of all these reasons, she inspires and motivates many people to be an activist and fight for something that someone may believe in. “She continues to inspire generations of Americans struggling for civil rights with her bravery and bold action” (Biography.com). This shows that Harriet Tubman still today encourages everyone to stand up for a cause that may be important to anyone. It is essential to defend human rights because it is not fair to be enslaved and treated poorly because of your skin color. Everyone should be free and have equal rights. It is also important to stand up for what you believe in, even if it means going against the law.

³There are two things I¹ve got a right to, and these are death and liberty. One or the other I mean to have.² (Tubman p.39) Harriet escaped from the plantation with her brother. A few hours into the trip Harriet¹s brother got scared of being captured, so Harriet and him had to return. The next night Harriet fled alone into the forest. She was given food and shelter by many whites and blacks against slavery, along the Underground Railroad. When she finally did reach Philadelphia, the free-land, Harriet said, ³I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person now I was free. There was such a glory over everything...I felt like I was in heaven. (Tubman p.46) 5 It didn¹t take long for Harriet to realize that the north wasn¹t so ³heavenly² after all. Harrie!

Bay Back Books stated: “Harriet Tubman had been a liberator, a woman who stood up to slave power, and a warrior whose actions spoke louder than words”. Clinton says that her

“ I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” Thomas Jefferson once said. Harriet Tubman was a strong and brave African - American woman. She was born in Dorchester County, Maryland. She grew up in Bucktown, Maryland. She grew up like “a neglected weeds” (Background Essay). It showed that her childhood is not very lovely. At the age of 12, she was doing field work and hauling logs. When her master died, in 1849, she makes her life-changing decision, “ I had reasoned this out of my mind; there was one of two things I had right to; liberty or death; if I could not have one I would have the other” (Background Essay). This showed that she is going to fight for her and others’ freedom but if she does not get freedom then she would get death. Although Harriet Tubman’s achievements as a caregiver in Upstate New York and being a spy leader of the Combahee River raid were important, but her achievement of being a conductor of the Underground Railroad was the greatest.

“ I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when de time came for me to go, de Lord would let dem take me.” --- Harriet Tubman. She was one of the most famous African Americans of all time. As many may know, she was the Conductor of the Underground Railroad. She not only freed herself from slavery but also freed about 300 other slaves because she did not want anyone to have to live their life in chains. Now Tubman wasn't the only one who suffered, during this dark time in our history, millions were harmed and enslaved. Three other individuals Ouladah Equiano, Fredrick Douglas, and Cinque were slaves and went through the same hardships Tubman went through. They, like Harriet Tubman agreed that we fight for freedom until

Not many people are capable of defying the rolls of society but that did not stop Harriet Tubman. Not only was Tubman the bravest woman in history, she was an African American slave who overcame adversity. Tubman escaped and not only made a better life for herself, but made a difference in hundreds of other African Americans lives. Tubman risked her own safety and freedom to help other African American’s reach their freedom. Tubman taught us that no matter who you are, where you come from, or what you look like, you can change the world if you have the right intentions. Harriet’s determination to get freedom for herself, family, and all other African Americans was truly inspiring. Tubman went against all odds and managed to save so many

“I never met any person, of any color, who had more confidence in the voice of God, as spoken direct to her soul” (Garrett, “Letter by Thomas Garrett”). Harriet Tubman was an iconic symbol of slavery, abolition, and the Underground Railroad. However, she was not the only one who helped and supported anti-slavery. It was common for groups of people to try help the slaves become free. Though this was a hard thing because during the time of slavery, tension was created between the supporters and non-supporters due to the differences in thoughts on slavery. Unfortunately due to the tension, laws were created to protect the slave owners from losing their “property” Even though the laws were a setback, it didn’t stop abolitionist and antislavery supporters from helping the slave become free.

Before the American Civil War, many slaves had no intention to revolt due to the threat of extreme beating or even death. This threat led many slaves to suffer without speaking out and few tried to face the system that oppressed them. When the now famous Harriet Tubman rebelled against her slave master, she not only helped herself, but others in her position. Tubman used her freedom to help others escape their captivity, which ultimately left her handprint on the Civil Rights Movement. Tubman’s actions compared to those of her peers suggest that the two types of people in the world are those who create change and those who wait for it to happen.

Catherine Clinton’s well written biography, Harriet Tubman: Road to Freedom, is a full-scale account of the daring singularly self-determining individual. Harriet Tubman was a humanitarian, abolitionist speaker, Civil War mole, scout, military commander and the only African-American female known to have continually and effectively piloted those in inhuman bondage to their freedom. As the reader goes deeper into Clinton’s work, perhaps the author’s greatest talent is allowing the reader to sense the deep levels of prejudice that Tubman lived in. Fears of black proliferation was manifested in racist rants in the popular press, the burning of black churches, jailing free African-Americans for minor offensives, lynchings without trails and other

In the article 'Hacking as Politically Motivated Digital Civil Disobedience: Is Hacktivism Morally Justified? ' by Kenneth Einar Himma, She argues that the as an electronic civil disobedience, hacktivism is morally impermissible. Kenneth claims that the acts of civil disobedience is not always morally permissible because the nature of it is disobeying the state of the law and it is more expressive than the right to free speech. Then she discusses the framework to evaluate acts of civil disobedience in both sides of favoring and against the civil disobedience. Ultimately, she argues that hacktivism as a kind of electronic civil disobedience is impermissible because of its moral disvalue to the society when applied the evaluation framework to it.

Activism using the Internet and other new media is increasingly having an impact in broadening the scope of civic action in support of human rights in East Asia. Select one or two case studies of activism in ONE East Asian country studied in this course. With regard to your chosen case studies, how effective is online activism as a force for social change? How are government authorities responding to the challenge of internet activism?

In the article, “Get Over It”, by Jeff Jarvis, he discusses the importance of social media and being public about certain actions. Some people do not realize the benefits of social media and how it can bring a community together. For example, “We are sharing because it brings benefit. We meet people, make friends and stay connected. We spread ideas. We get attention. We gather information. We gain trust through transparency” (431). Jarvis is attempting to convey a message alerting the public that through the sharing of knowledge and moments in one’s life can evoke relationships among people and build a