On Aug. 23 in Kenosha, WI 29 Black male Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by police officers. A video of the scene has gone viral showcasing Blake walking into a car as the officers pull out their weapons. Social media has opened opportunities for people to speak out on the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Once the video was posted and had begun gaining attraction, within hours protests began through the city. Blake’s shooting added more to the injustice of the Black Lives Matter movement that has been occurring over the summer since the killing of Geroge Floyd. 

Twitter and Facebook have created a source for people to express their frustration with the lack of justice done in the US. With more people joining in on social media outlets, calls to action for the Black Lives Matter movement have reached people all over the world. 

TikTok is a relatively new app compared to its competitors but downloaded over 7.5 million times in the US within the month of June. Viral videos include people going out to peaceful protests, as well as discouraging acts of racism against black people. 

Sammy Hager lives from Meridian, ID. She’s a journalist and a civil rights activist. She has taken some of her work on her TikTok account @sammyhager2020. She has over 45k followers and continues to spread the reality of injustice done to marginalized groups in the US. 

When asked how social media has affected the  injustices in the US Hager said, “You can’t give people the ‘benefit of the doubt’ anymore and assume the white cop is telling the truth as a white privileged person when the videos clearly show otherwise.” Hager notes that it has become much easier to showcase systemic racism. 

Hagger grew up in Covina, CA. The settings from the two states are incredibly different. She notes that she has always been aware of racism but wasn’t as blatant as it is in Idaho. Hager describes racism as, “alive, unapologetic, and vile.” She adds that even in more progressive towns like Bosie, ID you still see Nazi flags and hear the N-word regularly. 

Hager started her account not really thinking anyone would notice or care. She was working on the Bernie Sanders campaign and calling out corruption in politics. Hager eventually gained the attention of Idaho Republicans and even police officers. 

All forms of threats have been made on her, from blackmail to guns being pulled out to her, to even political figures threatening her. The police have even been to Hager’s home. Articles have been written throughout the state comparing her to a terrorist. 

On Jul. 7 Hager shared in a TikTok video that she would never purposely harm herself, that’s she’s not depressed or would hurt anyone, “If any of those things happen to me, you know what happened to me,” referring to the fact that someone else must have been the reason for any physical harm done to her. 

Hager is running for election to the Idaho House of Representatives to represent District 20B under the Democratic party. Hager isn’t running for the sake of winning, but the message she wants to send out to her heavily red state. She wants the politicians of Idaho to know that their positions aren’t permanent, nor are they untouchable. 

Hager will proudly continue her videos,  “This is the largest protest (BLM) in American history and I only see it growing thanks to these videos of protestors being unjustly injured and BIPOC being discriminated against.” Hager believes apps like TikTok are key to the revolution she sees coming. 

On Aug. 23 in Kenosha, WI 29 Black male Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by police officers. A video of the scene has gone viral showcasing Blake walking into a car as the officers pull out their weapons. Social media has opened opportunities for people to speak out on the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Once the video was posted and had begun gaining attraction, within hours protests began throughout the city. Blake’s shooting added more to the injustice of the Black Lives Matter movement that has been occurring over the summer since the killing of Geroge Floyd. 

Twitter and Facebook have created a source for people to express their frustration with the lack of justice done in the US. With more people joining in on social media outlets, calls to action for the Black Lives Matter movement have reached people all over the world. 

TikTok is a relatively new app compared to its competitors but downloaded over 7.5 million times in the US within the month of June. Viral videos include people going out to peaceful protests, as well as discouraging acts of racism against black people. 

Sammy Hager lives in Meridian, ID. She’s a journalist and a civil rights activist. She has taken some of her work on her TikTok account @sammyhager2020. She has over 45k followers and continues to spread the reality of injustice done to marginalized groups in the US. 

When asked how social media has affected the  injustices in the US Hager said, “You can’t give people the ‘benefit of the doubt’ anymore and assume the white cop is telling the truth as a white privileged person when the videos clearly show otherwise.” Hager notes that it has become much easier to showcase systemic racism. 

Hagger grew up in Covina, CA. The settings of the two states are incredibly different. She notes that she has always been aware of racism but wasn’t as blatant as it is in Idaho. Hager describes racism as, “alive, unapologetic, and vile.” She adds that even in more progressive towns like Bosie, ID you still see Nazi flags and hear the N-word regularly. 

Hager started her account not really thinking anyone would notice or care. She was working on the Bernie Sanders campaign and calling out corruption in politics. Hager eventually gained the attention of Idaho Republicans and even police officers. 

All forms of threats have been made on her, from blackmail to guns being pulled out to her, to even political figures threatening her. The police have even been to Hager’s home. Articles have been written throughout the state comparing her to a terrorist. 

On Jul. 7 Hager shared in a TikTok video that she would never purposely harm herself, that’s she’s not depressed or would hurt anyone, “If any of those things happen to me, you know what happened to me,” referring to the fact that someone else must have been the reason for any physical harm done to her. 

Hager is running for election to the Idaho House of Representatives to represent District 20B under the Democratic party. Hager isn’t running for the sake of winning, but for the message, she wants to send out to her heavily red state. She wants the politicians of Idaho to know that their positions aren’t permanent, nor are they untouchable. 

Hager will proudly continue her videos,  “This is the largest protest (BLM) in American history and I only see it growing thanks to these videos of protestors being unjustly injured and BIPOC being discriminated against.” Hager believes apps like TikTok are key to the revolution she sees coming. 

On Sep.15 Joe Biden spoke at a live broadcasted Hispanic Heritage Month event in Kissimmee, FL. Highly influential Hispanic artists joined Biden to reach out to the LatinX community for their support to the Democratic presidential party. 

Joe Biden was trending on twitter when viewers at home watched as Joe Biden took out his phone and began playing the popular song “Despacito” by Latin artist, Luis Fonsi, and Daddy Yankee. Though some saw it as cringy, it was an attempt of many to connect with all ranges of the Hispanic community. 

One thing that most people migrating to the United States has is, “Hope, and in so many ways that’s what makes us American.” as Biden stated. He wanted to connect the matter that everyone can connect to their ancestors, whether American or Hispanic, they’ve intertwined and flourished. 

Biden highlighted the importance of the Hispanic people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role they have taken in the working class, “for the first time recognized for what they truly are, essential.” He also mentions it’s not a matter of just thanking these people, but to pay them.

From the grocery store clerks to the nurses, the US is powered by working Hispanic people. Biden quotes his father, “A job is a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity.”

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Hispanic share of the labor force is projected to grow from 17.5% in 2017 to 20.9% by 2028. 

Biden goes into exactly how he plans on helping the Hispanic community and how to integrate them better into the country. “We have to change our attitudes,”

Eva Longoria, an American actress of Mexican descent who opened the event, directly calls out President Trump in the racism, inhumanity, and stereotypes that Trump has continuously stated towards Mexican immigrants, “at the border he has ripped kids from the arms of their parents and has locked them in cages.” 

On Aug. 3, 2019, Patrick Crusius, a white man, walked into a Walmart in El Paso, TX shooting 22 people dead. Anthony Rivas of ABC News reported, the El Paso Police Department was told by Crusius that he wanted to kill as many Mexicans as possible. Far-right violence against minorities has been growing in the US since President Trump took office. 

Rivas states that although the President denies his effects in any form of violence, “ an ABC News investigation in November 2018 [found] multiple criminal cases involving mostly white men where Trump’s name or rhetoric was invoked in direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence or allegations of assault.”

On Aug. 16, 2019, Longoria and fellow American-Hispanic actress, America Ferrera led a group for a letter of solitary to US Latinos. The group was made up of more than 150 artists, including Doreles Huerta, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ricky Martin, and many more. 

Longoria tweeted that day, “We will not be broken. We will not be silenced. We will continue to denounce any hateful and inhumane treatment of our community. We will demand dignity and justice.” Along with Ferrera, to ask the Hispanic community to bind together.

Biden wraps the speech up by describing the strength he carried during times of grief (the loss of his wife, son, and daughter), “Faith and family, it seems to me that the same strength that’s always animated the Hispanic community.” Biden encourages viewers that the Hispanic community holds so much power in shaping the future of the US, he encourages everyone to vote.

Frodo Joe’s, a cafe located in San Lorenzo, CA, though the COVID-19 pandemic is still amongst the community, the small business is trying to preservice through the hardships. 

In March, Frodo Joes had to close its doors to indoor dining, just as many businesses had to across the country. In late June, the business opened up outdoor dining in their parking lot. A new experience for the cafe. 

Frodo Joe’s is a family-owned business with two locations, one in San Lorenzo and the other in Fremont. The business is most known for its delicious savory and dessert crepes. Togo orders continue, but now patrons can sit down for coffee and a fresh crepe.

The San Lorenzo location is managed by Emily, the daughter of the owners, along with her staff behind her, young college students from the community. 

Emily expresses that the brightest side of the whole situation is the support from the community especially online, “A lot of my customers are posting to go and support Frodo Joe’s,” People have been posting to San Lorenzo’s Facebook to help keep business booming. 

New obstacles have popped up as the cafe tries to manage social distance guidelines outside. The landlord of the building granted the cafe four parking spaces for tables and chairs, all six feet apart from each other. “We can’t do parties more than six,” Emily expresses that she can move tables together, but has to stick to guidelines. 

Frodo Joe’s has always been a rather small space, and a seat at a table has always been a tricky task. However, Emily set new rules, “The customers have to pay for their food before they can get a table.” She understands that customers were used to saving their seats, “This way there won’t be any conflicts between customers.”

For the most part, people have been understanding as Emily puts it. Their business depends on being able to keep up with health and safety regulations, “We try to work as efficiently as possible. Inspectors do come to make sure tables are six feet apart, we sanitize all the tables and chairs.” 

Business overall is better, but there are setbacks that are unavoidable. Due to the wildfires that began in early September, outside seating hasn’t been easy. On Sep. 9 the Bay Area skies were dark orange with a thick layer of smoke. In the days following the air quality index (AQI) spiked to over 200 categorized as very unhealthy. 

As of Sep. 21, the AQI is at 42 in San Lorenzo, categorized as Good. Emily says that slowly but surely business is building back up as the weather has improved. She expressed that the cafe is in a better position than before, “It’s better than nothing. At least right now I do have my supportive customers in the area.” 

Frodo Joe’s is located at 17665 Hesperian Blvd, San Lorenzo. The cafe opens from 6 am-5 pm Monday to Saturday and 8 am to 2 pm on Sunday. Emily and her staff are more than happy to see kind faces come by, with face masks while going inside. 

The Trump administration attempted to place a ban on the video-sharing app TikTok on sunday September 20th. This would have been the last day US citizens could download the Chinese owned app, but the ban is being temporarily blocked by a Federal Judge.

Federal Judge Carl Nichols wrote that although there is evidence of China being a threat to national security, “it was less clear that TikTok itself posed a risk.”

TikTok has over 100 million users in the US currently. In an executive order written by president Trump, he states, “This data collection (done by TikTok) threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information—potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo warns to only download TikTok, “if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

President Trump announced his plan to ban the app on July 31st, just one month after teens using TikTok registered for thousands of free tickets to the President’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma to limit the number of attendees. This left thousands of seats empty after the administration promised to fill all seats.

President Trump has also insisted that instead of using a Chinese owned app people should use the new app Triller. Triller is almost completely similar to TikTok and has risen in popularity since the banning of TikTok.

The President and his son, Donald Trump Jr, are both verified and actively posting on Triller.

Trump Jr recently posted a 7 minute video on Triller attacking Tiktok and urging people to use Triller instead. He stated,“There’s an option that you can go to that’s an American company, that’s not saving your data, that’s not going to eventually weaponize it against your children.”

TikTok has admitted that their app, “automatically collects certain information from you when you use the Platform, including internet or other network activity information such as your IP address, geolocation-related data … unique device identifiers, browsing and search history.” However this is also true for every other social media app, including American owned app Facebook.

ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has denied any sale of personal data to a third party and argued they do not store user data in China at all.

However, a conflicting report by encryption and cybersecurity company Protonmail warns, “the social media giant not only collects troves of personal data on you but also cooperates with the CCP, extending China’s surveillance and censorship reach beyond its borders.”

After failures to sell the App to an American based company TikTok’s answer to the ban is a lawsuit against the Trump administration. Their official statement regarding why the lawsuit was filed specifically, “By banning TikTok with no notice or opportunity to be heard (whether before or after the fact), the executive order violates the due process protections of the Fifth Amendment.”

TikTok was originally given a 45 day period after the September 20th ban to fix any cybersecurity issues and potentially be allowed back into business with Americans.

 However, since Judge Nichols put a halt to the ban, a new plan to have a US hearing decide the fate of TikTok was put into place.

The hearing is scheduled to take place the day after the Presidential election, and will officially decide whether TikTok will be allowed to remain in App stores.

The live-action remake of Mulan premiered on Disney+ On Sep. 4. While Disney attempted to make a more accurate telling of the story, fans were disappointed with every aspect that went into the making of this film.  

Parts of the movie were filmed in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, (XUAR) China, a southern region in the country where over 1mil Uyghur Muslims are currently being detained in concentration camps. Disney had even thanked the Turpan Public Safety Bureau that’s involved with the camps, in the Mulan end credits. 

#BoycottMulan has been all over the media, people are refusing to support the movie, and Disney as a whole. 

A letter has been sent to the CEO of Disney, Bob Chapek, by 19 bipartisan members of Congress to question Disney involvement with this region as reported by Axious news on Sep 12. 

Key aspects of the letter are highlighted in this article including: “that Disney explains its cooperation with XUAR authorities, including what contractual agreements were made, Disney executives’ awareness of the political complexities of the region, what local labor was used and what Disney policies exist on prohibiting relationships with human rights abusers.”

Disney has yet to make any public statement. 

Liu Yfiel 33 is a Chinese born-American actress who stars as the new Mulan. Liu has been under fire as she has been very public of her support for the Hong Kong police that has been on the scene as protests that began Aug. 2019.

Liu stated in her online post, “I support Hong Kong’s police, you can beat me up now. What a shame for Hong Kong.”

BBC News explained the extraction bill that started the protest, “the proposed changes would have allowed for the Hong Kong government to consider requests from any country for the extradition of criminal suspects, even countries with which it doesn’t have an extradition treaty and including mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau.” 

Liu’s statement left many upset and initially caused one of the first reasons why people wanted to boycott the 2020 Mulan. 

Everyone who worked to create the movie was white. Fans quickly realized that there weren’t any Chinese people telling a Chinese story. 

Disney has proven to be able to tell authentic stories focused on cultures. Pixar Studios (owned by Disney) received massive praise for its creation of the film Coco. The movie centered around Mexican culture and family values. While the film was directed by a white male, Lee Unkrich, he knew he couldn’t tell this story authentically without true representation. 

Unkrich thus brought along co-director Adrian Molina, a man of Mexican descent. The creators of Coco spent countless hours in Mexico, working with artists and musicians, to learn every aspect they could to achieve one of Pixar’s most celebrated films. 

 Mulan costs $29.99 to stream on Disney+. Although the film remains unlocked as long as you are a subscriber to the app, it will be available for free on Dec. 4. Many fans were upset with the pricing considering that they already have to pay to be a member and didn’t believe the film was worth the money. 

Paola Hernandez, a student at UC Berkeley and Disney superfan, was initially excited for the film when the first trailer was released. She was emotional and, “felt a little teary-eyed,” as Hernandez put it. The original Mulan is in Hernandez’s top five favorite Disney movies. 

Songs featured in the original include “Reflection” and “I’ll make a man out of you” which has over 124 mil views on Youtube. These are seen as Disney songs classics. 

The 2020 Mulan had no singing but did quote the lyrics throughout the movie. This left Hernandez unimpressed, “It felt cheesy. Why even use the line if they’re not gonna sing it?” Hernandez felt that all the aspects she enjoyed as a child were taken out of the movie. 

Hernandez does not recommend, and would rather stick to re-watching the original.