For this module, we were given the task of creating a digital activism project with the freedom to choose a topic that was personal to us and would allow us to inspire change and use the digital medium to influence others. The topic I chose was Black Lives Matter, focussing on the origins of the movement and how far it has come since the term was first coined in 2013. I was actually inspired by the shocking ignorance that had been revealed through conversations I had partaken in with people in my class, as well as the attitude towards black people in the community that I had grown up in- and not just what I had seen in the news.

In my lightning talk presentation, it was important for me to highlight how that movement has come to the UK and is no longer simply about police brutality in the US but how black lives are being compromised where we live also. I created an infographic with the educational program Thinglink, an online platform that can be used for visual storytelling using interactive media and where an image can be quickly shared to the majority of social media platforms with the click of a button. The infographic contains key points from the very first use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and how it has evolved over the years. Social media, and of course utilising the hashtag is the main way I will share the creative digital artefact I have created, with the intention to educate and also inspire change in the people that the infographic is shared with. Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise, narrated by myself, adds a powerful message to the narrative.I present the infographic with knowledge that discussions or attention around the cause may be uncomfortable for certain people to engage with, but this very reason, getting them out of their comfort zone, is a way to really make a difference as often change does not always go hand in hand with comfortability.