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Ra'il I'Nasah Kiam (born I'Nasah Kiam Crockett)[1] is an artist, writer, tech critic, and independent researcher based in North Carolina. As of 2024, they[a] work primarily as a writer and photographer, in addition to curating black art. In 2014, they were involved in exposing and responding to the online harassment campaign known by the hashtag #EndFathersDay, and were the target of doxxing and threats for their efforts.
Early life and education
editI'Nasah Kiam is from Atlanta, Georgia, and "a proud product of the nontraditional education method known as home schooling."[2] They earned a bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 2008, and a master's degree in Southern studies from the University of Mississippi in 2009.[3] At Sarah Lawrence they performed in an original dance production, Explicit Layers of Sound (2005).[4] They pursued further studies in history at Vanderbilt University.[3]
#YourSlipIsShowing online campaign
editBy June 2014, I'Nasah Kiam had already been active on various social media as an "indie public scholar", discussing issues of race and society, as well as helping to identify and promote Black art.[citation needed] At this time, a coordinated trolling campaign targeted online communities of women, particularly Black feminists, through a false flag operation using the hashtag #EndFathersDay.
Originating with discussion on 4chan, participants in the trolling created fake accounts and pretended to be black feminists who wanted to "end fathers day" due to perceived failings of men. The "attacks" on men posted by participants spread misinformation and often used fake African American Vernacular English to attempt to generate aggressive, hateful responses towards Black women in general and Black feminists in particular. Twitter (where the majority of the trolling posts were published) was slow to respond.[5]
One of the most effective responses to the disinformation campaign was the identification and aggregation of posts participating in the trolling campaign, using the hashtag #YourSlipIsShowing. This campaign was originated by Shafiqah Hudson, and I'Nasah Kiam was active and influential.[6]
While Hudson created the hashtag (#YourSlipIsShowing), I'Nasah Kiam uncovered and then worked to publicly expose twitter and 4chan posters who were creating fake accounts and using the #EndFathersDay hashtag to inspire hatred towards Black women.[6] In particular, I'Nasah Kiam found and exposed the original 4chan post on which many of the #EndFathersDay posts were modelled.[7] I'Nasah Kiam and Hudson spent several weeks using the online networks and communities that make up Black Twitter[8] to bring attention to what was happening, showing the politically motivated roots of the campaign.[9] After the events associated with #EndFathersDay and #YourSlipIsShowing, I'Nasah Kiam received many rape, death, and doxxing threats online.[10]
Both Kiam and Hudson, as well as scholars of social media,[11] disinformation, and online attacks have identified this event (both the #EndFathersDay campaign, and the successful #YourSlipIsShowing response) as a missed opportunity to learn from what happened to Black feminists, before Gamergate and other similar harassment campaigns.[9][12] Journalists and scholars have located this event as a precursor to not only Gamergate, but also to the online trolling and harassment tactics associated with the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.[13][14]
Other activity
editI'Nasah Kiam continues to write critically about technology, focusing particularly on the risks that poorly-moderated, large social media platforms can present for marginalized communities. They have identified these communities as a type of canary in the coal mine.[15] Kiam continues to give public talks and write about what they see as the broad importance of this issue for the Black community as well as for white communities online and offline.[16] Kiam pursued a master's in fine arts degree in North Carolina in 2019 and currently runs multiple online accounts showcasing their own and others' photography, including a Black art curation site, and sites dedicated to cultural theory, Afropessimism, and Black community and politics.[17]
Notes
edit- ^ I'nasah Kiam uses both xe/xim and they/them pronouns. This article uses they/them for consistency.
References
edit- ^ Kiam, Ra'il I'Nasah (2022-05-18). "Where a Name Is From". CONTINGENT. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
- ^ Crockett, I'Nasah (2004-08-17). "Choice of home school should be an easy one". The Atlanta Constitution. pp. A9. Retrieved 2024-09-28 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Alumni in Academia from Winter 2012 Southern Register". Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
- ^ "Early Works". the A.O. Movement Collective. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
- ^ Nkonde, Mutale (2022-04-27). "Elon Musk Says He Wants Free Speech on Twitter. But for Whom?". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
- ^ a b Green, Penelope (2024-03-10). "Shafiqah Hudson, who fought trolls on social media, 46". The Boston Globe. pp. C24. Retrieved 2024-09-28 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hampton, Rachelle (2019-04-23). "The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
- ^ Handel, Sarah, Mehta, Jonaki (May 24, 2023). "The challenges of accurately archiving Black Twitter on All Things Considered". NPR.org.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Rejouis, Gabrielle M. "Black Feminist Antitrust for a Safer Internet" in Meg Leta Jones and Amanda Levendowski, eds., Feminist Cyberlaw (University of California Press 2024): 180-181. ISBN 9780520388550
- ^ Hampton, Rachelle (2019-04-23). "The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
- ^ Thomsen, Ian (2022-04-29). "What is the future of Black Twitter under Elon Musk?". Northeastern Global News. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
- ^ ""Raving Amazons": Antiblackness and Misogynoir in Social Media". Model View Culture. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
- ^ Clark, Meredith (2024). We Tried to Tell Y'All: Black Twitter and the Rise of Digital Counternarratives (1st ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190068141.
- ^ Reagan (2020-08-06). "I'Nasah Crockett and the Power of Signal Boosting". rae's media notebook. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
- ^ Gallagher, Ferghal, A. B. C. News. "Minority communities fighting back against disinformation ahead of election". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
- ^ "Srcconpower2018 Talks Inasah | SRCCON:POWER | December 13 & 14, Philadelphia". power.srccon.org. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
- ^ authorsofcolor. "Authors of Color". A place to find literature and writing by authors of color. Retrieved 2024-08-20.