{"title":"Symbolic Annihilation: Analyzing Associated Press’s Erasure of Vanessa Nakate and Marginalization of Black Women Activists","authors":"Mahedi Hasan","doi":"10.1177/00219347231220679","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the exclusion of Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate activist, from a group photo published by the Associated Press (AP) during the 2020 World Economic Forum. Using the muted group theory, it explores the implications of Nakate’s omission as the sole black individual in the image, shedding light on the broader issue of symbolic annihilation faced by black women activists in Western media. Through visual and textual analysis, the study reveals the power dynamics and biases behind AP’s decision to crop Nakate, fueling subsequent controversy. Furthermore, the paper examines AP’s response to the backlash, analyzing their strategies to rebuild their reputation, including issuing an apology and releasing the original photograph.","PeriodicalId":47356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Black Studies","volume":"320 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Black Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219347231220679","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ETHNIC STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper examines the exclusion of Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate activist, from a group photo published by the Associated Press (AP) during the 2020 World Economic Forum. Using the muted group theory, it explores the implications of Nakate’s omission as the sole black individual in the image, shedding light on the broader issue of symbolic annihilation faced by black women activists in Western media. Through visual and textual analysis, the study reveals the power dynamics and biases behind AP’s decision to crop Nakate, fueling subsequent controversy. Furthermore, the paper examines AP’s response to the backlash, analyzing their strategies to rebuild their reputation, including issuing an apology and releasing the original photograph.
期刊介绍:
For the last quarter of a century, the Journal of Black Studies has been the leading source for dynamic, innovative, and creative approach on the Black experience. Poised to remain at the forefront of the recent explosive growth in quality scholarship in the field of Black studies, the Journal of Black Studies is now published six times per year. This means a greater number of important and intellectually provocative articles exploring key issues facing African Americans and Blacks can now be given voice. The scholarship inside JBS covers a wide range of subject areas, including: society, social issues, Afrocentricity, economics, culture, media, literature, language, heritage, and biology.