Georgia Tech Cheerleader
Exploratory essay
Muhammad Ahmad
Georgia Tech Cheerleader
The Georgia Tech Cheerleader’s iconic knee image has been viral all over the internet and via social media. This image can be categorized in three different types of analysis: the literal level, the inferential level, and the evaluative level. In a literal context, the action of the cheerleader taking the knee may seem as nothing more than it what it appears to be. However, in a inferential view, one can realize that three major aspects of the person taking the knee takes place which is the gender, race, and social platform. As a colored female in a social environment, her actions play a great role in the public eye which allows her to use nonverbal communication to display what she was feeling on the inside. And through a critical eye, one can induce what message she is trying to voice without using her own voice.
Through a literal eye, a viewer can notice different things. The picture was taken at an angle which doesn’t allow us to see the cheerleader’s face, only a portion of it. Next to her there are two other cheerleaders who are standing with their arms on their chests allowing us to see their faces and to assume that the national anthem is taking place. The rest of the picture isn’t focused on and is a blur putting all the attention on the three cheerleaders. The name of the cheerleader who is taking a knee is Raianna Brown, she posted the image of herself taking a knee during the national anthem on her social media account where it became viral last year in September. She didn’t start or came up with the movement in taking a knee during the national anthem, she did this in response to what happened with the NFL pro football player Colin Kaepernick who took a knee during the anthem last football season, and has been consumed with controversy and unable to find a job with football teams in the NFL.
In a critical analysis, this example of nonverbal communication by the cheerleader is in fact a propagation of the knee movement in different sports platforms. The taking a knee movement is a response and a peaceful protest to police brutality towards people of color in the United States. A victim of this brutality is Terrence Crutcher who was father and a student shot to death by a police officer in Oklahoma last year September. For Raianna Brown taking a knee was not a form of disrespect to the American flag, but as a way to give attention to the unjust morals, by using platforms available to her. The response she received when the picture went viral this year were mostly positive, but more people started to engage in the topic about police brutality. Even in Georgia tech Raianna Brown says the she received support from the football team and they reacted very positively, though negative comments and thought were said none of them Raianna received herself.
The picture going viral this year shows us that it is important to the public. Most things that go viral on social media are on things people deem “important” or a phenomenon like the dress that different people saw two different colors. When a media concerning politics like protests go viral it’s because it affects a great number of people, and these people interpret it with different viewpoints. With the recent events and movements like Black Lives Matter, the topic of police brutality became more well-known gaining support from the public, as well as becoming more relevant in people’s lives. Because of these movements things that relate to them that are posted on social media receive more attention than normal and sometimes causing lots of controversy and concern with the public. With the image of Raianna Brown taking a knee during the anthem people who understood the political statement of taking a knee and its history viewed it differently than those who knew nothing about it. Relating to what happened with Colin Kaepernick this image caught the people’s attention in ways it was meant and not.
An initial reaction of many towards this picture was that many took it as disrespect towards the American flag and towards the country itself, even though the intention behind it was to give awareness for the unjust morals within the country concerning police brutality and race. Individuals who were directly related to Raianna or to the “#takeaknee” movement knew the intended meaning of the picture. Many associated this picture as support for the “Black lives Matter” movement.
The controversy and arguments created by this picture helps bring individuals closer together. This picture gave awareness to people ignorant about issues in the African-American communities. Since the picture is on the internet, the public have access to it. This allows people who aren’t directly related to the issue or who weren’t at the football game to see Raianna take a knee during the anthem to experience and be informed about the statement she’s is trying to make. When topics that are brought up through social media by viral videos or images, a whole new community comes together to support a cause or addressing an issue that wouldn’t be able to form as easily because they are connected by the internet. Meetings, protests, major events all can be organized and formed because the issues that this picture helped inform and connect people who support and address the same issues. It also can alienate people further apart by bringing up issues that people aren't comfortable enough to debate about without their emotions or pathos clouding their judgement, and can cause people to form groups and communities to oppress the other viewpoints which can cause a drift into different political sects, especially on different social platforms. The fact that this picture is present on the internet allows people with different viewpoints to voice their opinion and understanding of the message the cheerleader is trying to voice.
Donald Trump's reaction towards the take a knee movement was very vulgar, and the political reaction towards the social movement through the platform of social media shows us the impact and influence that something has once gone viral. Biased judgement can be influenced by one's perception of the image which can change the feelings toward certain things, this can happen when people look at the image with certain ideas in their heads without knowing the true meaning behind image itself.
An image of a cheerleader at Georgia tech taking a knee during the national anthem recently went viral on the internet and social. When I first saw the picture of the cheerleader taking a knee, I didn’t really think much of it and thought to myself how and why did this picture go viral, then I realized that the two besides her weren’t, they were standing on both feet in a field with their hand on their chest. Seeing this I assumed that this picture took place during the national anthem during a game of football. This became more of a political statement the just a cheerleader taking a knee. Looking at the picture again it became something else to me, instead of just seeing a cheerleader resting on one knee I saw an Afro-American woman with natural hair making a powerful statement for the people to see on social media and the internet.
