#WeAreHere Katelyn Stokes

#WeAreHere Movement

Intro to #WeAreHere

Have you ever wanted to make a difference in the world of charity, but you couldn’t choose which one to donate to? The hashtag movement that I am researching will certainly answer this question for you. My movement is the #WeAreHere movement. This movement was created to give power to ordinary people to get their voices heard and make a difference in the world. The We Are Here campaign idea came from the iconic singer/songwriter Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys and her friends were hanging out one night, and one of them asked her “why are you here?” That might seem like an odd question to some, but to Alicia it really made her think. That may seem like a weird way to start a movement, but Alicia Keys was inspired and determined. The movement first came into light in 2014, and although it is less prominent in today’s culture, it is still making an impact in the lives of many today. The movement is so impactful because there are 12 different charities for people to donate to. At this point you may be asking yourself, why is there a need for this movement? The need for this movement is to get common people’s voices heard. This Charity is specifically designed for common, everyday people to be inspired by. Alicia Keys and her team work hard to ensure that this charity is accessible for everyone.

The We Are Here movement is a reformative movement, solely for the fact that it aims to change only some specific aspects of society.

Global Impact

Based on the last paragraph alone, there are many reasons as to why the We Are Here movement is beneficial to society. The first of many is the project’s main goal. During a 2014 interview, Alicia stated that she created the movement to motivate people who want to make a change in the world to actually make a change. She made her movement easy to donate toward, and she used many charities that are well worth donating to. Her eagerness to change the way our society works stemmed from the recent amount of catastrophes occurring on the news. She said that the abundance of tragedies she saw on the news was overwhelming, and she wanted to make a difference by helping stop the sad timeline of events happening in our society today. tragedies are happening all over the world, therefore, people can relate to this movement. People everywhere want to make a difference, so this movement will definitely continue having a huge global impact. After stating why the movement is making a big impact on our society, I think we can all agree that this movement is certainly worth researching. This movement doesn’t only affect people in the United States, but also people in different countries globally. For example, the movement focuses on multiple demanding problems that are currently happening in multiple realms of the world  (LGBT suicide prevention, mass incarceration, and etc.). Next, Alicia Keys has a very big global social media following, hence making it easier for the movement to spread. As of November 2018, Alicia Keys has roughly 14M followers on Instagram alone. So far the We Are Here Movement has made a pretty large impact. The movement was destined for success when Alicia Keys donated roughly 85,000 to 12 of the organizations ($1,000,000 in total) to kickstart her charity. This generous donation could improve the mass incarceration problem in the US by giving more funding the justice system to improve the imprisonment problem.

“Ms. Keys says the goal of her new We Are Here movement is to “build an army of fans who want to make the world a better place”.  The organizations she specifically endorses and encourages others to consider for donation include non-profits our students study as part of the exploration of the emerging social enterprise space, including Partners in Health and Girl Rising. Some deserving non-profits not on her list include Room to Read and BuildOn, which are each world-class organizations founded by former business leaders making a meaningful and sustainable impact on global child literacy.” (Alicia)

How Does it Tie-in?

The We Are Here movement can be compared to social movements from the past. For example, the aspect of wanting to give power to the people reminds me of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther wanted to spread knowledge when he translated the Bible, hence giving power to the people to determine what they think the Bible means for themselves. Alicia Keys aimed to make the people who donate and contribute to her charity feel like they have a voice. As you can see, the Protestant reformation loosely ties in with the #WeAreHere movement.

Why Are You Here?

Since the start of the movement in 2014, the charity has really taken off. People are posting #WeAreHere to spread the same determination and compassion that Alicia Keys has started. The main reason why she started this project was to make the world a little bit of a better place, and many people would agree that she accomplished her goal. Though her movement is still taking place (although not as evident as it was in 2014), she has really done a lot to improve the global community. What I have personally learned from researching this powerful movement is that anyone has the power to make a positive difference in the world. I know that many people being affected by the 12 different charities that she donated to are incredibly thankful for all of the hard work that she has put in. The Alicia Keys #WeAreHere movement has grown into so much since her friend asked her that life-changing question, “why are you here?”

Author: Katelyn Stokes

Date Published: 11/272018

Bibliography

“Alicia Keys' We Are Here Movement Features EJI.” Equal Justice Initiative, eji.org/news/alicia-keys-we-are-here-features-eji.

“‘We Are Here’ Movement – The Trevor Project.” The Trevor Project, www.thetrevorproject.org/get-involved/we-are-here-movement/.

“We Are Here - The Movement with Alicia Keys.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Sept. 2014, youtu.be/GUMZHFIhbLM.

“Mass Incarceration” Statistics  https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*ePkwA1vqsFvfAf2rD7LjCQ.png

“Alicia Keys' 'We Are Here' Movement.” Cyberbullying in the Workplace, Kevin Carvalho Https://Www.northeastern.edu/Iuhrp/Wp-Content/Uploads/2016/09/Northeastern-Iuhrp.png, www.northeastern.edu/sei/2014/09/alicia-keys-we-are-here-movement/.