ANTI-RACISM DAILY

May 12, 2024

Weekend Edition

SPOTLIGHT: CELEBRITY CULTURE AND THE MET

Last week, celebrities and influencers gathered at the Met Gala in all their glitter and splendor, dressed to reflect this year’s ironic theme, “The Garden of Time,” inspired by a short story written by J.G. Ballard.

The Met Gala is constantly criticized for how it ostentatiously puts wealth on display, but this year, it received intense scrutiny as student protests on NYC campuses and around the U.S. It was also ill-timed with Israel’s decision to order the evacuation of Rafah for another attack – one that prompted the Biden administration to lessen its support.

Social media took the conversation in stride and quickly organized to admonish the celebrities present at the gala, especially those who hadn’t spoken about the violence in Gaza. Days later, a comprehensive campaign was launched encouraging social media users to block celebrities who had stayed silent (there have been ongoing efforts to block celebrities since the latest round of the conflict, but not at this scale).

Proponents of the campaign hope to encourage celebrities to speak up by affecting their advertising revenue. Some celebrities on the list, including influencer Hayley Baylee and singer Taylor Swift, have already lost hundreds of thousands of followers – small numbers compared to their total audiences but impressive considering how quickly efforts have been organized.

If you’d like to join in, here are some resources:

• Follow the hashtags #celebrityblocklist and #blockout2024 on social media channels (TikTok and Instagram seem to be the most active).

• Watch these videos to see a list of celebrities included in the campaign.

• Remember that the call to action is to unfollow and block these accounts, not to attack them.

Read more:

• The Met Gala has fueled backlash against stars who are silent about the Gaza conflict (NPR)

• "Silence Is Not An Option For Me": 29 Celebrities Who Have Called For A Ceasefire In Gaza (BuzzFeed)

• Some people are referring to this practice as a “digital guillotine,” a way to cut off the power and privilege that celebrities fail to use for this cause. Here’s an article about why an artist was advocating for a guillotine emoji as a similar statement (Vice).

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

IN THE NEWS

At this student encampment, Deaf protesters built a model for accessibility. Deaf pro-Palestine students joined their hearing peers at the now-cleared George Washington University encampment. 19th News >

Their businesses were transformed by a grant program for Black women. Its future is now at risk. A conservative activist who successfully challenged race-based university admissions has sued over Fearless Fund’s grants to Black women business owners. 19th News >

Meet students at four colleges where Gaza protests win concessions, including considering divestment from Israel. Democracy Now spoke to students whose demands have been met, or are under consideration, at their respective universities. Democracy Now >

Sudan’s paramilitary forces accused of ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity in Darfur. More than a year of brutal war in Sudan between two factions of its army has killed tens of thousands and forced more than 8 million people to flee their homes. PBS >

Neither candidate has much to say about Israel. So why is AIPAC pouring money into this race? The powerful lobbying group is going against a capitol police officer who fended off January 6 insurrectionists. The Intercept >

After a sharp rise in women dying in pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, rates decreased significantly in 2022. However, Black women still had higher rates of maternal deaths than other women. CNN >

How the end of the COVID state of emergency hurt low-income students. Once the public health emergency expired, many low-income students lost SNAP benefits and health insurance. Prism Reports >

House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.” PBS >

• Bill to combat antisemitism prompts backlash from the right. A bipartisan push to enact a law cracking down on antisemitic speech on college campuses has prompted a backlash from far-right lawmakers and activists, who argue it could outlaw Christian biblical teachings. NYTimes >

• Congress’s antisemitism bill Is “an Insult to Jewish History.” This op-ed argues how the bill fails to acknowledge the work and history of anti-Zionist Jews. Jacobin >

America’s misunderstood border crisis, in 8 charts. For all the attention on the border, the root causes of migration and the most promising solutions to the US’s broken immigration system are often overlooked. Vox >

JOIN OUR BOOK CLUB!

Join our current book club on The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Dr. Rashid Khalidi! We’re discussing the book all month long on Patreon and gathering virtually on Thursday, May 30.