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Activism

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Activism is about taking action through promotion or intervention in social, political, economic, or environmental reform with the desire to change society.[1] This action can translate into many forms such as petitions, rallies, marches, and so forth. New media has introduced online platforms for people to voice out issues. A lot of groups are turning to blogs, YouTube, Instagram, and so forth. Individuals are taking these platforms and tackling issues that are usually taboo, by creating a dialogue.





Red Nose Day

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Red Nose Day was started by Comedians from Comic Relief in 1988 as a way to help people in Ethiopia. Since then, the fundraising has taken on a like of its own, establishing networks of food banks and relief worldwide. Red Nose is an organization fighting hunger around the world. They work with different organizations to help fight hunger through various charities. Your donation goes along away. Action against Hunger is an organization dedicated to fighting to help feed hungry children in Tanzania. The Full Plate Project Campaign has People who can get involved by volunteering or donating to the organization. The project has been able to provide much needed medical services for people without them. Additionally, they have provided educational resources for people in rural areas. The Red Nose project has helped the Boys and Girls Club of America work with families below and just above the poverty line. Parents should not have to choose between feeding their children and paying bills. The partnership has fostered a lifeline to help struggling families stay intact. [2] [3] [4]


Internet Activism

Muslim Girl

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Muslim Girl is a blog that became a platform for Muslim women to talk about the misconceptions in Islam. For an example, they raise awareness about the Qur'an's message of gender equality and the idea of peace. They created this website to have a safe space for females to speak their mind. The topics of this website are relatable to young Muslim females. They speak about topics that a lot of women fear talking about. Most importantly, the website strives to build connections with all women of faith, through sisterhood.[5]





Me Too Movement

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The 'me too' movement was created to help survivors of sexual violence. The purpose is to create a community, advocate and find solutions to end sexual violence. The hashtag on Twitter forced a national dialogue, that attempts to de-stigmatize survival stories. In addition, the website provides resources for both the survivor and advocate. A user can enter their zip code and find out what the local community is doing to fight against sexual violence. [6]





#BlackLivesMatter

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Black Lives MatterGlobal Network Foundation, founded in 2013, is built on the foundation to get justice for the violence inflicted upon black communities and exterminate white supremacy. The black lives matter movement began with a hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the death of Trayvon Martin. Soon enough, the hashtag appeared on various social media platforms and became a social calling for all activists.[7] It became a rallying call. Overtime, the phrase itself along with the hashtag became a prominent feature in the killings of Micheal Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, George Floyd and numerous other African Americans, especially on social media platforms. The hashtag enables users to quickly find content related to a particular topic. With the Black Lives Matter movement, a user is able to easily search up all public content that has a reference to #blacklivesmatter. With that function, a hashtag can easily be used by organizations or even individuals spread the word of any injustices that have occurred. The hashtag is even related to instances of police brutality that involved the black community. In that situation, activists used the hashtag to show their solidarity and promote their message.[8] The participants of the Black Lives Matter movement are using the #BlackLivesMatter as a core element of their strategies, which is helping to translate the online conversation to the offline protests.[9] Recently after the death of George Floyd as protests occurred nationwide, social media platforms flooded with #BlackLivesMatter. According to the Pew Research Center, between the period of May 26th to June 7th in the year 2020 (which is when George Floyd was killed) the hashtag was used approximately 47.8 million times on Twitter.[10] During those brief few months, the number of times that hashtag was used had reached an all time high. This demonstrates the power of a simple #BlackLivesMatter. The hashtag can help to start a conversation about not only within the Black community, but a bigger discussion on racial issues.[11]


Opioid Epidemic

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Opioids are a class of drugs that slow down the central nervous system to reduce pain. Examples of this include Heroin, Fentanyl and prescription painkillers like Oxycodone, hydrocodone, Morphine etc.

The main problem with opioids is that they can become highly addictive. Anyone taking opioids is at risk of overdosing or becoming addicted if used excessively.

Opioids are an epidemic because the medical industry has taken advantage of Americans from prescribing it whenever possible. This has led to over consumption of opioids by Americans creating a public health crisis. In the United States Opioid prescriptions tripled from 1992 to 2012. The pills over the years have become become super sized, with more pills given out per prescription. [12]

There are many effects that opioids have had on Americans. It is reported that 128 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose and prescriptions abuse. [13] With this, there is a reported 2.6 million Americans over the age of 12 or older with a past year substance abuse disorder in 2015. [14] These millions of Americans suffer every year from the abuses of the pharmaceutical industry.

Treatments for opioids are difficult to find as insurance doesn't cover it. However, there are resources online that can help addicts take the first steps to getting help. This includes SAMHSA’s National Helpline, which offers treatment referral and information service for those facing substance disorders. There is also Medication-assisted treatment, which treats opioid dependence with buprenorphine, methadone or Naltrexone. Lastly, there is also Behavioral Health Treatments and Services which include different forms of behavioral therapy to help combat addiction.