Social media activist, actress and comedian Franchesca Ramsey gave a keynote speech entitled “Your Powerful Online Voice – Social Media For Social Change” on Monday in Witherspoon Student Center about the importance of raising online awareness about diversity.
This was one of the main events of the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity’s eighth annual Diversity Education Week.
Ramsey spoke about her success story and how she became popular enough to be able to transition her content to social activism. She discussed how her video, “S— White Girls Say to Black Girls,” was a viral hit.
“I was working as a graphic designer at Ann Taylor, which meant I spent most of my day photoshopping pictures of Demi Moore,” Ramsey said. “When I got to lunch, I had 1.5 million views. For one day, I was more popular than Justin Bieber.”
She then talked about how she took her newfound fame and transitioned her content to much more activism-focused videos. Since then, she has been a contributor for “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” and is currently the host and executive producer of “MTV Decoded.”
Ramsey then went on to discuss how she believes there is not enough discussion about diversity and privilege as there needs to be.
“There is also a lack of understanding and education around racial identity, around oppression and privilege,” Ramsey said. “If you’ve ever taken an African studies class, if you’ve ever taken a gender studies, just look around. Who is in that class? When you’re at college, and when you get to college, these are conversations that you have to want to actively participate in.”
Ramsey also spoke about what she believes society has done to the image of Martin Luther King Jr.
“I do think it’s important to remember that we have sanitized this man’s image and legacy in order to appease people and make them feel comfortable about where we are in this world,” Ramsey said. “It’s very easy to be like ‘Martin Luther King had a dream, and then Obama, and then we all walked into the sunset … and we’re all good and we have no more work to be done.’”
Amber Parker, a second-year studying psychology, is a fan of Ramsey and says was very impressed with the presentation.
“I absolutely love Franchesca Ramsey,” Parker said. “I’ve seen a bunch of her YouTube videos, so I was really excited to hear that she was coming. I thought what she gave was really good advice about opening up dialogues, and I really liked how she was really transparent about her faults and how she was able to grow from them.”
Diversity Education Week began on Sunday and continues until Saturday, Oct. 28. A full schedule of events can be found here.
Franchesca Ramsey, social media activist and host of MTV Decoded, answered a question during a press interview in the African American Cultural Center in Witherspoon Student Center Monday. Ramsey was the guest speaker selected to headline the campus Diversity Dialogue as part of Diversity Education Week.
