Our roundup of links to innovative and interesting mobilisation campaigns that caught our eye (and yours) in the past few weeks:
Netizens Spark Protest Against Corruption
Dubbed the “Million People March,” Aug. 26’s National Heroes Day in the Philippines saw hundreds of thousands of people protesting government corruption and calling for the pork barrel’s abolition.
An estimated 80,000-100,000 people protested government corruption in Manila’s Rizal Park, with thousands more holding mass actions in other cities. The idea for the mostly middle-class gathering came from social media interactions between concerned netizens on Facebook and Twitter. Via Global Voices
India-based Skin Color Campaign Sparks Social Media Interest
The India-based Dark is Beautiful awareness campaign that promotes the beauty of all skin colors is seeing new activity on social media and in mainstream media. Launched in 2009 by Women of Worth, the campaign has been catching interest this year with award-winning actor-director Nandita Das becoming the face of the campaign.
Fair skin has been a desire for many India citizens, with brands promoting products that bleach skin. The skin fairness industry brings in more than $400 million USD annually – more than the sale of tea and Coca-Cola in the country. Via Global Voices
Instagram Campaign Captures Undocumented Teens
Houston-based non-profit Neighborhood Centers ran an Instagram campaign asking undocumented teenagers living in the U.S. to shares glimpses into their lives. Using the hashtag #ThisUndocumentedLife, the campaign ran during July.
Neighborhood Centers selected eight winning photos from its “This Undocumented Life” contest, which are on display in black and white. Known as DREAMers, Texas is home to 450,000 of the nation’s 1.5 million undocumented youth. Via Mashable
Supporters’ Tweets Raise Humanitarian Funds
OCHA is asking its Twitter supporters to complete the sentence “The World Needs More ____” with something they feel strongly about as part of its World Humanitarian Day 2013 campaign. If a supporter chooses one of many pre-selected words
(such as #shelter, #education, #hope) and uses the hashtag #theWorldNeedsMore, corporate donors will give $1 per tweet towards humanitarian projects. The month-long project started on Aug. 19. Via Social Media For Good
Amnesty Engages Curiosity with Radical Experiment
People engaging in Amnesty’s I Found a Letter campaign aren’t listening – the campaign tells people what not to do, including to not watch a video that highlights free expression that is taken away from people. After viewing the video, participants who click on a link called “Do Not Click This Link” are given a secret mission. Wrapping up Sept. 1, the campaign is the “beginning of the fight for free expression.” Via ifoundtheletter.org
What’s Missing?
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Top photo: Aerial shot of Rizal Park rally. Photo courtesy of Architect Paulo Alcazaren. From @muntingprinsipe
