Black Women and Digital Resistance: The Impact of Social Media on Racial Justice Activism in Brazil and the United States

This study compares the experiences of Black women activists in Brazil and the United States, in order to understand the role of social media in racial justice activism, and the implications this has for Black liberation in a broader historical and transnational context. Employing a Black feminist anthropological frame, the project uses historical analysis, and semi-structured interviews conducted in Austin, Texas, U.S.A. and in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This project examines the effectiveness, as well as the risks, involved with digital activism at the intersection of racial justice. Social media platforms have the ability to make information more accessible for Black women activists, provide a space to collectively organize both in a national and transnational setting, and serve as a way to counteract the interpersonal and structural violence Black women face on a daily basis. However, these platforms also function as a surveillance tool that can lead to an increase in state violence. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding Black women’s lived experiences, so as to form a more comprehensive analysis of the transnational and gendered implications of Black women’s resistance in an increasingly digitized and global world.