PART 1: The People's Pulse
- How young people have turned a moment into a movement
- Using creativity to rally on social
PART 2: The Brands' Burden
- What's resonating
- Why some have missed the mark
“Most of us here are young, we are hungry for change, and we want it now.” -Josiah Jacobs, Bay Area community activist
What
[Thompson] is a member of a generation who may not be old enough to vote but are old enough to organize for change.
A common thread throughout the current uprising—catalyzed by the brutal deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery—is the notion that this moment feels different, from the kinds of people getting involved to the unlikely soundtrack behind the protests. This is largely due to the unique ways in which young people have channeled their indefatigable will to take action and mobilize people. On the ground, many of the largest demonstrations across the country have been organized by Gen Zers fresh out of high school or just beginning college. In O’Fallon, Missouri, 17-year-old high school grad Jalen Thompson organized a peaceful protest of over 2,000 people. “It was the first protest I’ve ever gone to, let alone organized,” Thompson said. In San Francisco, four 19-year-old friends, who had just graduated from high school and, like Thompson, were novice community organizers, brought together 15,000 people for a peaceful march across the Golden Gate Bridge in one of the largest demonstrations against police brutality in the Bay Area thus far. In Tennessee, four teens, who initially met on Twitter, came together with a shared passion to take action. They called themselves “Teens 4 Change,” set up an Instagram page to spread the word about future protests, and eventually organized a rally of more than 10,000 people, creating the largest anti-racism gathering in Tennessee’s recent history.
“I saw the aerial view after I got back home. I was like, ‘Dude, what did we just do?’” -Michael Blue, Bay Area community activist
What
Young creators are using creativity as a means to unite people online in action against systemic oppression, galvanizing large sums of people who otherwise may never engage in social causes to get involved. Across social media, creators are cultivating a virtual protest language of sorts. They’re making colorful illustrations and creative typography, reminiscent of show flyers to use as memorial portraits, infographics about abolishing the police, drawings depicting the cost of policing, and slides with statistics about police violence or amplifying powerful quotes. A young activist hacked Instagram to create an AR filter, called “BLM – Donate Now,” which helps users decide which Black Lives Matter-related charity to donate to. The filter works in a similar way to “Which ‘X’ are you?” spin-the-die-style filters. Also, on Instagram, @wherearetheblackdesigners gives a platform to creatives of color as an effort to drive change in the design industry. Even BTS's sprawling army of fans tapped in by flooding hashtags such as #WhiteLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter with videos and gifs featuring the band as a way to hack the algorithm.
TAKEAWAY
The current uprising has augmented a lot of the themes we’ve consistently highlighted regarding Gen Z’s unyielding ambition to use creativity as an instrument to drive change. Furthermore, there are several use cases in which Adobe’s products can play a very organic role. How can Adobe build on this and authentically support our audiences as they continue to cultivate their visions for change?
What
Brands are often quiet when it comes to polarizing topics around racial injustice. However, this movement is different, and the resounding response to recent police-related murders of innocent black people have cultivated a “silence is compliance” sentiment. Many brands have done a number of different things, but the gestures that have truly struck a chord are ones which are action-driven and authentic. In a time like this, it’s about action > words and brands like Sephora and Netflix have demonstrated how they can use their scale and leverage to empower black people and educate others on struggles that plague our community. This is not to say that words alone aren’t effective, but if they are a brand’s central weapon of choice, any public statements on the matter must omit corporate polish and genuinely reflect the raw and unfiltered tone of the people on the street, as shown with Ben & Jerry’s call to dismantle white supremacy. Furthermore, brands need to embrace a deep level of self-awareness if they plan to address issues publicly because people are looking under the hood: Who is on your board? What does your C-suite look like? For instance, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian announced his resignation from the company’s board in order to make way for a black replacement, signaling a genuine commitment to creating long-term change from within.
What
A lot of brands felt the need to say something early, rushing to put out statements as the uprising was just starting to take off. This led to a wave of tepid statements that lacked accountable action for sustainable changes. Brands including Tinder and L'Oréal received backlash for releasing vague statements without first addressing internal changes they needed to make to align with what the movement is truly pushing for. Even a beloved brand, such as Nike, is not immune to criticism if their words are more clever than concrete.
TAKEAWAY
Building brand trust is no longer predicated solely on marketing and product quality - it’s increasingly becoming an inside-out process. How can Adobe shine a light on some of the current internal initiatives around equality and representation to demonstrate the type of accountable self-awareness that young people expect from brands?