QUESTION SET 1
1. In the article, “Public Health Experts Say the Pandemic Is Exactly Why Protests Must Continue,” which appeared in Slate on June 2, 2020, (link in folder), what connection do the public health experts who signed the open letter make between the pandemic and the need for mass protests against systemic racism?
https://slate.com/technology/2020/06/protests-coronavirus-pandemic-public-health-racism.html
2. In the Carr Center Discussion Series report, ““Reimagining Social Movements and Civil Resistance in the Global Pandemic” from April 17, 2020, (link in folder) what are some of the negative effects on social movements around the world that the three scholars believe will occur because of the pandemic, and give one example of a specific movement mentioned that might be affected negatively. You may also find an example in the May 13, 2020, Nation article, “What’s Next for Asia’s Social Movements?” that is also linked to in the folder.
https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/files/cchr/files/200416_covid_discussion_paper.pdf
3. The January 6, 2020 attack on the United States Capitol building was at least in part made possible by politicians who not only questioned the outcome of the 2020 election, but who demanded a forceful and violent response to the “steal” of the election. Given what you have learned from Erica Chenoweth’s TED talk (link in folder), do you think that the violence against the Capitol helped or hurt the cause of the insurrectionists? Why?
Question set 2
1. After watching the video about Sam Nzinga and the Soweto Uprising, think about another way that a government somewhere in the world seeks to limit media coverage to prevent igniting protest movements against itself.
2. In the Emmett Till video, we see how Mamie Till generates media coverage by allowing photographers to take graphic photos of her murdered son. The George Floyd video, in which the world saw a man murdered, was another example of a visual which possessed such power that it launched a movement. Can you think of an image or symbol which, due to media attention, ignited protests, or movement activity? Is there an example of such an image in the environmental movement? In the women’s rights movement?
