Change starts from within yourself and your own community. If you are truly dedicated to change, stop using the n-word and other microaggressions. You don’t sound “cool”, you won’t look more attractive to girls or guys, and your friends won’t respect you more for using it. You do not get to unlock a new privilege to speak the vernacular just by having black friends or hearing it in a song. Don’t justify it by saying your black friend gave you the “ok” to use it, because one person does not speak for an entire race. It just makes you look stupid and ignorant, and definitely part of the problem.

Posting on social media is a great way to spread awareness and show your support for the movement. However, jumping on trends like the whole “tag 10 friends who you know won’t break the blm chain” or “post a black square for blackout Tuesday” is doing nothing to educate or bring about any type of change or justice to the whole issue. If you’re going to tag people, don’t tag your friends who you know are already aware and on-board with being anti-racist. Tag those who are NOT, and call them out on their ignorance. Posting a black square on your feed is also performative and unproductive, because in times like these, people need to amplify their voices, not encourage silence. Share educational information, as well as links to donations and petitions instead of a solid black square. Performative activism is surface-level advocacy and basically makes you seem like you are temporarily joining in to look good. Do more than tagging your friends in a chain and posting a black square for a day.

While this is a time when people should be using their voices and social media platforms more than ever, I have definitely noticed that some of my friends and followers are not posting that much. However, many people find retweeting and resharing the same posts to be unproductive, and would much rather do work behind the scenes. It’s possible that people who don’t seem to be very active on social media may already have attended many protests, signed petitions, donated money to bail funds, and had conversations with family members behind closed doors. Check in with your friends who you see aren’t being very active on their socials instead of indirectly attacking them through your subtweets. If they haven’t done the work on their own, figure out why and ask them to help. No one should be subjected to criticism for failing to publicly announce their actions and efforts.