"Seeing someone with my cultural background doing nothing about the blatantly immoral actions right in front of him shook me to my core," writes VOX ATL's James Rhee. "It was then that I realized we, as an Asian community, have been doing the same thing for decades." Read on
Tag Archives: black lives matter
VOXCast: Franklin Ayzenberg on Weaponizing White Privilege and Defending the Trans Community
Franklin Ayzenberg is a white transgender man and social media activist who’s living in New York City. When I asked to interview him, it was late May, and the political atmosphere of our country was unbelievably different.
In fact, part of me is cringing at highlighting a white voice, when now is the time, more than ever, to be uplifting Black voices. But as a Black voice myself, I have decided I wanted to take a second to view the movement through a different lens.
How can I as a Black man help white people learn about weaponizing their white privilege? Franklin Ayzenberg was an excellent person to discuss this with. He runs two Instagram accounts, his main one, where he has over 16,000 followers. A second, newer one @reallyhotandstrongboys is where he beautifully uplifts and celebrates a diverse range of individuals assigned female at birth, who have ventured into masculinity and maleness as varying proximities. Some have had top and bottom surgery, others have had neither and feel just as comfortable that way.
In this interview, we discuss everything from the Black Lives Matter protest, to the hypocrisy of white liberals, to how everyone can come together to uplift trans voices during Pride month. Enjoy!
When I was in middle school, my mother would let me buy snacks while she filled her gas tank. One day, we stopped by a Stone Mountain gas station to get snacks as usual. As I was purchasing my bag of chips, I heard a boy get called the N-word by a white man for… Read on
While there is much debate over the right way to protest in a time like this, Instagram users, specifically Instagram celebrities, have favored a new type of activism, one that I like to call “cryptic activism.” This month’s #blackouttuesday” is the hashtag being heard around the world. Originally started by local artists on Tumblr such… Read on
By Nora Rosenfeld, VOX Media Cafe reporter In a reality filled with a spreading pandemic, a sharp increase in activism, and a strong demand for justice coming from the Black Lives Matter movement, many feel compelled to take action but get lost somewhere in the search for how. A particular group often unsure of where… Read on
"During a time when online activism is prevalent, we must talk about the dangers of performative allyship." Read on