South Africa Project

Social Media

Social media platforms such as Tiktok, Twitter, and Instagram have been online spaces that tend to feed mass information about the climate crisis. Naturally, young people (who are on their phones a lot more) are finding out about it. As a result, Gen-Z has been more outspoken about the climate crisis than other generations and age groups. In Khaleda Rahman's article (https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-tiktokers-are-fighting-stop-willow-project-1785790), she addresses seing the outrage over the approval of the Willow Project on Tiktok. According to her, users are posting with the hastag #stopwillowproject. Videos using this hastag have amassed millions of views.

Social Media

Colleges

As of recently, more and more colleges have decided to divest from fossil fuels. More than 100 US education institutes have divested from fossil fuels. According to an article by Evan Castillo (https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/list-of-colleges-divested-from-fossil-fuels/), there are 1,552 institutions that have divested from fossil fuels. Out of those 1,552, education institutions make up 15.5%.

Colleges

The idea of a young person going to a college that has divested from fossil fuels seems inspiring and optimistic. Young people are more open to change than others. If one can see the efforts that their own school is putting towards the safety of the planet, then they might be able to put the effort in themselves.

It is evident that educational institutions have drawn some lessons from divestment campaigns in the 1980s. Just like banks and corporations in the 80s, schools have divested in the hope that there is change that benefits the human race.

Some Colleges that have divested

- Harvard - Cornell

- Princeton - Georgetown

- Dartmouth - Columbia

Article from Dr. Gay Seidman

Second Person View

Highlights of the article:

- The efforts of anti-apartheid divestment campaigns started to really flourish in the 1980’s (especially in America)

- As South African apartheid news was broadcasted nightly in the US, people came together and had discussions about divesting from anything related to South Africa (businesses, resources, etc.)

- After years of protest, over $3 Billion in shares were sold

- In 1986, international banks stoped giving loans to South Africa

- Some American business leaders today claim that divestment campaigns didn’t work despite all the evidence and real life proof that they work

AFSC Statement

First Person View

In 1977, the AFSC released a statement against apartheid in South Africa. In the statement they not only expressed the fact that they did not like what South Africa was doing, but they also expressed how people in the US should take action and make a change.

Quotes from the statement:

- "We urge the U.S. President and Congress to take prompt steps to back up their protestations with action"

- "...we ask religious bodies to examine any holdings they may have in South Africa or in firms doing business there..."

- "This is not a time for tokenism or symbolism. There have been too many responses that have been too little and too late."

Statements like this are exactly what gets people to do things. Nowhere in this statement is it suggesting that one does anything, instead, they are demanding that one does something. When a statement is direct, it tends to keep people intrigued.