Race and the Digital: Racial Formation and 21st Century TechnologiesMain Menu"From Tweets to Streets?" A Research Project with Digital Supplement"The Digital Divide" Research ProjectsRace and the Digital BlogIntersectionality and TaggingCourse SyllabusSyllabus for Race and the Digital at UCLAStatement of Values: Digital Ethnic StudiesContributors' PortfoliosAbout "Race and the Digital"Genevieve Carpiocbaef6f4fe1847cc774ee8ef5c2d6efb0a58fda3Kid Cometb62a4423d252f961609f416b7188ffbc7d84a7d3Yesenia Melgoza-Fernandeza6a8d8933b14c7be3a522d5102f92c9dfe52e9b2Michie Ortiz25daabac1577ec1d12a68b2c0b0a15c4dba1374bEduardo D. Garcia6e60d0784abf2b990f3510cceb60101259a8bdd3Alan Evangelistaf3e41e7c002a037bb13d71a1e837eb5bf5bef12fAna Victoria H.37ae5307effd9bccccea4f0fe7958d15cee30e07Arturo Sotelo38025c1bb15e36f2beff44b22df47fac513c339faade8e08161ecdfbe4206b74479dee1c1d007a58c4Ashley Martinez-Munoza5a71a08c4c1c5dc7904ffcbc148c4f2edb1e723Ebony Paramodca8ce0b7a38097adb1b511e4c75690f833171f0
One Seed at a Time
1media/Hands-Holding-Seeds1.jpg2016-06-07T05:26:44-07:00Ebony Paramodca8ce0b7a38097adb1b511e4c75690f833171f088778image_header2016-06-09T16:50:53-07:00Ebony Paramodca8ce0b7a38097adb1b511e4c75690f833171f0People living in the twenty-first century have the fortune to live in a time where location and time are but indicators of where one is, not indicators of what they are able to do. Although there still stigma experienced by non-white Americans in the United States, social media is a place where their own identity is definitely a technological tool they can utilize to pinpoint the matters of importance to them, essentially the matters that affect and impact their lives. Throughout the course of this project, it was very interesting to see how Twitter is an overall dominant presence in social movements. #GangstaGardener has its fair presence on this social media site, and thankfully in others such as Instagram and Flickr as a result of media bridging. The #GangstaGardener social movement's planting one seed at a time can ensure healthy, high quality produce to low-income communities such as South Central Los Angeles, just like one hashtag at a time can ensure speedy notification of important events to people nationally and internationally. Empowerment and community building can lead to social action and to a revolution as witnessed with #GangstaGardener, and hopefully will continue to do so, not simply becoming a fad or fifteen minutes of fame. #GangstaGardener, Ron Finley and the Ron Finley Project challenged the norm of who a gardener is and who a gardener can be. Gardening is not simply a past-time; with this type of gardening people in low-income communities (most likely people of color) can finally take control of what they eat and can finally disregard what their affordability dictates what they can afford to eat. Their situation of living in food deserts reflects the situation of the digital divide: no access to important materials (e.g. food and technological resources) needed to navigate life in the twenty-first century, and the contributions of many to make that division disappear. Pictured below is Ron Finley of the Ron Finley Project and the #GangstaGardener.
