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Evaluating Planned Behavior Within Hashtag Activism and #Blacklivesmatter’ Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2019 From retweets to revolution: Evaluating planned behavior within hashtag activism and #BlackLivesMatter’ Selchia Densua Cain Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Journalism Studies Commons Recommended Citation Cain, Selchia Densua, "From retweets to revolution: Evaluating planned behavior within hashtag activism and #BlackLivesMatter’" (2019). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 17414. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/17414 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. From retweets to revolution: Evaluating planned behavior within hashtag activism and #BlackLivesMatter’ by Selchia Densua Cain A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Journalism & Mass Communication Program of Study Committee: Joel Geske, Major Professor Tracy Lucht Kevin Blankenship The student author, whose presentation of the scholarship herein was approved by the program of study committee, is solely responsible for the content of this thesis. The Graduate College will ensure this thesis is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2019 Copyright © Selchia Densua Cain, 2019. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION I respectfully dedicate this study to my great grandmother, Selchia Cain. She was only able to achieve a third-grade education. Together, our names will share this degree, and I can only hope that she is smiling, knowing that I was her wildest dream and that her legacy lives on in me. I dedicate this study to the founders of Black Lives Matter, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrisse Cullors. These dynamic Black women have created an activist movement that has empowered the Black community and drawn international attention to the systemic racism of Black people. Our fights against injustices are sown throughout our very existence and our history as African Americans. However in the words of Steven Biko, a South African activist within the Black Consciousness Movement during the 1960s, “Merely by describing yourself as Black you have started on a road toward emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your Blackness as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being.” As a Black community, we must continue to raise awareness about police brutality and the systematic racism that has be built against us, thereby stimulating those uncomfortable yet necessary conversations with those who both look like us and those who do not. Although we may have received civil rights, there are so many human rights that we are denied but owed. Our ancestors would want us to continue their work so that their sacrifices were not in vain. This study challenged my own beliefs in activism and has inspired me to participate in activism outside of simply engaging in the movement through social media. iii This study and other research help enhance the understanding of the Black experience within activism in the 21st century, and therefore joins many other studies as yet another reason why social medias influence on activism should be further explored. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: ACTIVISM IN THE DIGITAL AGE ......................... 1 CHAPTER 2. WHY BLACK LIVES MATTER ............................................................... 4 The Movement ............................................................................................................... 4 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................. 5 Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).......................................................................... 5 Social Influences ...................................................................................................... 8 Social Identity Theory .............................................................................................. 9 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 3. METHODS ................................................................................................ 11 Selection of Participants .............................................................................................. 12 Snowball Sampling................................................................................................. 12 Sensitivity to the Black Experience........................................................................ 14 Background of Primary Researcher ............................................................................. 15 Ethical Limitation ........................................................................................................ 16 Data Collection and Analysis ...................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS ................................................................................................. 18 A Real Activist ............................................................................................................ 19 The New Molotov Cocktail: Social Media .................................................................. 21 Attitudes: Cleaning House ........................................................................................... 23 Subjective Norms: Family Matters .............................................................................. 26 Subjective Norms: When I Look at You ..................................................................... 27 Self-Care and Activism ............................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION AND FURTHER EXPLORATION .................................. 32 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 32 Further Exploration ...................................................................................................... 36 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 37 APPENDIX IRB APPROVAL ........................................................................................ 41 v LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. A diagram showing the theory of planned behavior and how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behaviors create intentions that lead to actions based on desired behaviors. ................................................................................................ 6 Figure 2. Example B digital flyer used to require participants. ........................................ 13 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Gratitude inspires. One week before my last year of graduate school, I was in a car accident, which changed the trajectory my life. Achieving this Master’s degree has been the most challenging part of my educational journey, and I would not have been able to complete it without the help of so many. I would first like to thank my parents for their unwavering support, their unconditional love, and their continued encouragement of me in moments that I could not even encourage myself. Especially to my mommy, who inspired me to seek opportunities to earn my Masters, debt free… We did that! Next, I would like to thank my friends old and new. I started my Master’s program after spending a gap year living in China; one of the biggest lessons that I learned upon my return was the lives of others continue, even in your absence. In many ways, my return to Iowa felt unfamiliar, even after spending four years in undergrad at Drake University. I returned with no place to live and no car, and I would not have been able to transition back into U.S. culture without the support of my former friends and Des Moines family. I also would not have been able to survive Ames without my new Iowa State friends who bought laughter during hard times and were kind enough to let me sleep on their couches during thunderstorms and severe winter weather advisories after my night classes to avoid me having to drive back to Ankeny. To my current employer, John Deere, who also allowed me to continue to gain work experience as a part-time student while earning this degree, and later offering me a full-time job, thank you. vii I express a great amount of gratitude to Iowa State University, specifically, my committee who has been extremely patient as I have worked to finish my thesis. I am grateful to Daniela Dimitrova, who made achieving this degree possible. She also presented me with new, exciting opportunities and honors during my time at Iowa State. I could not have asked for
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