It is our duty, as those who have the option to speak and be heard, especially being white and middle class, because of our place in society, to speak out for those who won't be listened to. Those who society ignores or shuns, should be elevated to the same level as all others, because as humans we all have rights.
I know I'm looked at as a social justice warrior, but hear me out. Our society won't accept those who partake in social justice, because it both exposes the flaws in society and because passion can be exceptionally irritating. At least for those who don't wish to hear about it.
Social justice works because the will of the thousands. Before, activists worked with paper signs and protested, debated and organized on much smaller levels. Because of trending topics, hashtags and the popularity of the internet, activism can happen in large cultural movements. This is more effective because anyone will tell you, when trying to advertise for a business, or draw cash, petition signatures, emails to a representative for a cause, awareness if the first step. People have to know something is an issue, before they'll want to fix it, or sometimes even care about it.
Social justice has been proven by movements that have changed the beliefs of the American people. Millions of people asking society to question it's outlook and perspective have finally started to win hearts and minds, or at least caused people to become more involved and decide their opinion matters in the larger scheme of things.
Gay marriage, trans rights, black lives matter, global warming, these are all things that the masses minds have been changed about, yet there is still hostility and sneering at those who comment on political issues. If a single post someone makes, can make someone else think, or their hashtag is found by one other person, or their post is part of an ongoing movement and keeps it trending, it's brought awareness to a cause.
Yeah, these mechanics have been used for dozens of other things much less important than societal change, but any method that can be used to draw awareness, educate, and inspire millions is a method I support. I'm part of the generation that watched our first black president get elected, I'm part of the generation that watch gay marriage become legalized, I'm part of the generation that watched trans rights become something people actually talk about, that watched thousands march and protest over police brutality, black Americans being killed in proportional excess, and watched the Great Ape-Snake War form and show America what the divide looks like.
Yeah, maybe our single posts or physical signs don't matter much, but in a generation when movements can start overnight, in a generation where your post can raise awareness and the movement bring societal change, maybe social justice in certain forms isn't all that bad.
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