Accountability is a trait that I grow to learn and love. It may be easy to tell someone to be accountable for their actions and lifestyle but often we don’t go the extra mile of holding those around us accountable for things that may be affecting us. With everything happening across Africa, there has been an uprise in the way people use social media to amplify the voices of those that are currently disempowered.
From #EndSARS to the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon and the #ShutItAllDown movement in Namibia, it is safe to say that social media has been a powerful tool in promoting awareness. Millions of youths have taken a tool that they are familiar with to push for change in their respective countries and Africa as a whole. Last week, social media was brimming with a lot of sensitive information and graphics which pushed people to see the graveness of the situation in different corners of Africa.
As I scrolled through my socials and used my own platform to help in any way I can, I realized that there was one thing missing; accountability was MIA. I had tweeted, retweeted, posted on Snapchat and Instagram but I wasn’t watching to see who was joining arms. In one of my moments of pure dissatisfaction and anger, I posted on my socials a message that called people out for being silent. I was appalled by the fact that I had to highlight that ALL Black lives matter to so many people.
As an international student in America, I have had conversations with people who enjoy claiming Africa as the motherland. Claiming the motherland, the rich culture and just the overall vibe but when it came to things like Ending SARS in Nigeria, the crisis in Cameroon, Namibia,Congo and the list goes on, NO ONE WAS SAYING ANYTHING. To say I was livid is an understatement. However in the midst of this, I also realized that just as much as I held myself accountable for when I spoke out about BLM, I made sure that I held those around me accountable.
I reached out to my friends from back at school and explained how disappointed I was in their silence in all of this, because this is not only something that deals with Black lives too but it is something I was speaking about on all my socials (which many of them see on a daily basis). I expressed how the same way they had cut off people for not supporting BLM, they were playing a hypocrite card; these too are Black lives, I should not have to shout that ALL Black lives matter. By having these very honest interactions, I was able to break past a barrier because they not only acknowledged their faults but also started holding their respective platforms accountable for not speaking up.
So to you I ask: have you been holding the people around you accountable for their silence? Have you prompted people to be educated about what it happening? Have the people who love Africa around you, spoken about her pain?
Accountability is what breeds responsibility.
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