‘All countries matter’ trends on Twitter, and Hamilton’s inspiring and ever-relevant message for change in the modern world resonates this weekend. Here are a few highlights from the digital world as America celebrates its Independence Day during a tumultuous time for the country.
Hamilton Inspires
Zenerations have put together a great Hamilton inspired piece on the parallels between the musical and the Black Lives Matter movement, highlighting how the revolutionary theme of the show can be seen in the fight for racial justice today.
The musical underlines the necessity for a nation to continue to better itself through change, and in most cases, this will require people to “take a stand with pride” and ensure that this is not just a moment, but a movement. Indeed, it is fitting for Americans to remember on the 4th July, that to love their country is to demand reform until it lives up to its highest ideals.
The Zenerations piece was also inspired by Rachel Cargle’s Instagram collaboration with Hamilton creator, Lin Manuel Miranda, to connect some recent news headlines to Hamilton lyrics.
Frederick Douglass Remembered
Ibram X Kendi, the author of ‘How to be an Antiracist’, provided his Twitter followers a powerful thread of the Frederick Douglass speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.” Douglass, the fierce anti-slavery orator and the most famous African-American of his time was asked to speak on Independence Day in 1852, and asked rhetorically why he was chosen, addressing his audience with:
“Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.”
“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”
The speech is an important reminder that while the 4th July is celebrated yearly by most Americans, it was not until 100 years after its independence that Black men and women were actually given their independence and freed from slavery. In this vein, protestors across the country have held demonstrations today to reinforce the notion that there is much work to do in the country to ensure Black people are afforded the same liberty and justice as the Declaration of Independence suggests every American has.
All Countries Matter
Twitter users have been poking fun at the flawed logic in racists posting ‘All Lives Matter’ or ‘White Lives Matter’ on social media amidst the important Black Lives Matter movement, by getting ‘All Countries Matter’ to trend on America’s beloved Independence Day.
In a very simple way, the trend lays down how blatantly obtuse those who post ‘All Lives Matter’ online, in order to combat and devalue the Black Lives Matter movement, are. Enjoy.
Digital Politics World 