Episode 38: Liana Fricker
#BlackoutTuesday, Anti-Racism and the Role of Social Media
Over the past fortnight, long overdue conversations about race, diversity, oppression and discrimination around the world have been ignited following the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery in the US, and the assault and subsequent death of Belly Mujinga in the UK.
These conversations about racism are imperative. I will be hosting some of these conversations right here on the podcast.
Whilst these conversations can be intense and uncomfortable, they are also inspiring, uplifting, unifying and rallying. I am incredibly grateful to the women who have shared (and will be sharing) their stories with us on Women On Top.
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When it comes to dismantling systemic racism, today’s guest Liana Fricker, founder of The Inspiration Space, wants us to think critically about social media and where we spend our attention.
In this episode we talk about #BlackoutTuesday and how its solidarity was undermined by drowning out grassroots activism that has long used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. Liana shares the eye-opening statistic from 13 Ventures VC that their early-stage consumer startups spent almost 50% of investments on Facebook and Google ads, proving that social media marketing can perpetuate the global wealth distribution problem by making these two US tech giants richer.
Liana concludes: “Every day we have to show up and do the work. We all have varying degrees of privilege and it’s not a competition. But white women and white men have to allow black people around the world to have some space... [to] heal, then together we can work as actual allies.”
This conversation was recorded on 4th June 2020.
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Chapters:
00:00 Episode Taster
02:09 Chapter 1: “I don’t know how I am”
13:15 Chapter 2: The patriarchy and the intersection of race and feminism
17:18 Chapter 3: #BlackoutTuesday became an Instagram sabotage
20:57 Chapter 4: 50% of investment went to Facebook and Google ads
34:05 Chapter 5: Even our small actions and micro decisions impact systemic racism
Episode Resources
‘10 places to network online that aren’t owned by Facebook’ by Liana Fricker: https://theinspirationspace.co/thegoodnews/10-places-to-network-online-that-arent-owned-by-facebook
Connect with Liana Fricker and The Inspiration Space:
Connect with your host, Frankie Cotton:
Women On Top is a Let’s Be Frank production. https://letsbefrank.co