10 steps towards _____ Justice, What You Need to Know About What’s Happening in ______, Addressing your _____ Bias. We’ve seen them all on Instagram. To the tune of a classic looking serif font, overtop a stunning gradient background. Or something in tan.

Over the course of the past year and amidst racial reckonings around #BlackLivesMatter and #StopAsianHate, have come the rise of social justice slideshows increasingly present in our casual browses on Instagram. There is so much good that comes from them, but the good is contained by the Internet. A space governed by trends, performative perfection, and the commodification of anything that will make money.

We had gone through a lot of trepidation in reviewing this episode. It’s May 2021 and there has been a shift in focus on social media highlighting the ongoing attacks against Palestinians by the Israeli government. We recorded this episode in April and have since reconsidered the criticality in our stances. Activism online is important. And in creating access to ideas about how to change the world, will always be worth more than the drawbacks.

But the conclusions we come to still stand. What do you do with your guilt about social issues? Turn that guilt into growth and act. On the internet and beyond.

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This episode of Influx was recorded and produced in Toronto by Amreen Kullar and Kyle Jarencio in April, 2021. You can find them online independently @amreenk_ and @fragilekyle and together @influxthepod. Our intro music is by Boy Garçon and our cover art is by Andrew O’Brien aka @hooker_green on Instagram. Episode edited by Amreen.

Black athletes in the NBA were a big reason for the leagues activism in the first place. Jimmy Butler is the specific player mentioned and there’s many articles written on the matter by Black sports journalists that you should check out. And if you’re interested in more about NBA politics check out Netflix’s High Flying Bird, a movie about the lockout. In the film they also feature the book “The Revolt of the Black Athlete” by Harry Edwards which offers more background and info beyond the NBA. We also reference Perfectionism and White Supremacy, read about that here: https://www.ditchperfect.com/blog/perfectionism-white-supremacy-culture Nearby that is The Bias of ‘Professionalism’ Standards https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_bias_of_professionalism_standards. We recommend @thenapministry for some good anti-grind culture content.

We also reference an article by Terry Nguyen (https://www.vox.com/the-goods/21359098/social-justice-slideshows-instagram-activism) and pull a quote from Jia Tolentino’s “Trick Mirror”.