In the book "The Prophecies" Nostradamus predicted the assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King, and also predicted the rise and fall of Lindsey Lohan.
Actually Nostradamus predicted none of these.
But if he really wanted to prove his physic street cred he would've predicted an executive from an Internet search engine company would play a pivotal role in the overthrow of a decades old dictatorship.
Back in the day, spiritual leaders like Mahatma Ghandi and MLK Jr.
organized communities and religious networks to overthrow colonial rule, change legislation and recalibrate the moral compass of society.
It was reassuring to think social justice would always be rooted in spiritual mores and grassroots doorknockers.
Google executive Wael Ghonim is the darling of the Egyptian social justice revolution.
He has introduced a new and uncomfortable organizational template of change.
Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that social justice leadership comes from young people familiar with IT and the tools of the trade.
Those who can organize command and tap the ethos of social networks are the new power elite.
Unfortunately many of the digerati are far removed from the class of people who need the most justice.
This revolution was fueled by empathy, organized on Facebook and ignited by a government ignorant of social media.
In a Sixty Minutes interview Mr.
Ghonim, displaying the kind of hubris we've come to love in generations X, Y and Z called the regime "stupid".
Ghonim launched a Facebook page and posted graphic pictures of the Khalid Said, a 28 year-old businessman who was brutally beaten to death after being pulled from an Internet café by plainclothes policemen in Alexandria.
Advocates claim Said had evidence of police corruption.
Five days later Ghonim secretly launched a Facebook page called "We are all Khalid Said" complete with a graphic image of the disfigured face of Said.
Egyptian authorities disappeared Ghonim on Jan.
28th.
After twelve days in detention Ghonim was released, reborn and recast as iconic hero.
Let's quickly review our activist hero actions.
Ghonim's activism consisted of putting up a Facebook page, getting arrested, sleeping in jail (his words not mine) while the masses spilled their blood and risked their lives to topple a dictatorship.
Come to think of it this was probably not too much different from his management gig at Google.
It took a tech savvy person make the underdogs winners in Egypt and tech savvy people are needed to move social agendas in America.
Unfortunately our underdogs remain ignorant of how to use technology to advance their cause.
Labor unions remain woefully behind in using social media as an organizing tool and minority youth use the Internet to gossip, text, hook up or socialize.
Being a nerd is un-cool in the African-American community.
Meanwhile un-cool super-nerd billionaire Mark Zuckerberg gets an audience with President Obama to talk about jobs and innovation, the kind of innovation not accessible to those who could most benefit from social, economic and political innovation.
Earlier this month in Marquette, Michigan President Obama talked about bridging the digital divide.
He said, "...
you've created new online learning opportunities for K-12 students as far as 30 miles away, some of whom can't always make it to school in a place that averages 200 inches of snow a year.
" I'd like to tell Mr.
Obama I know a kid in Oakland where the weather is mostly beautiful who missed 28 days of school in the last four months of last year because he was caring for a sick grand parent.
I know of no technology solutions to help urban school children attend school online and decrease absenteeism.
Maybe if it snowed in Oakland some new technology solutions would follow.
Our challenges in a mature democracy are more complex than the overthrow of a dictator.
Access to information technology is a problem but understanding and using the technology is a bigger problem.
Ghonim used Facebook to organize protesters but the government shut the site down.
Ghonim had a backup plan.
He used Google Groups to disseminate information and collaborate with his network.
The evil dictator and his henchmen couldn't guess a Google executive would use a Google product to communicate to his network.
Maybe they were stupid.
Is organized labor stupid because they can't figure out how to use social media to strengthen and expand their decaying network? Are minority youth who show no interest in app programming or organizing anything other than a sideshow stupid? Are tech companies who see no competitive advantage in the diversity within our own borders stupid? Are we stupid?
Actually Nostradamus predicted none of these.
But if he really wanted to prove his physic street cred he would've predicted an executive from an Internet search engine company would play a pivotal role in the overthrow of a decades old dictatorship.
Back in the day, spiritual leaders like Mahatma Ghandi and MLK Jr.
organized communities and religious networks to overthrow colonial rule, change legislation and recalibrate the moral compass of society.
It was reassuring to think social justice would always be rooted in spiritual mores and grassroots doorknockers.
Google executive Wael Ghonim is the darling of the Egyptian social justice revolution.
He has introduced a new and uncomfortable organizational template of change.
Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that social justice leadership comes from young people familiar with IT and the tools of the trade.
Those who can organize command and tap the ethos of social networks are the new power elite.
Unfortunately many of the digerati are far removed from the class of people who need the most justice.
This revolution was fueled by empathy, organized on Facebook and ignited by a government ignorant of social media.
In a Sixty Minutes interview Mr.
Ghonim, displaying the kind of hubris we've come to love in generations X, Y and Z called the regime "stupid".
Ghonim launched a Facebook page and posted graphic pictures of the Khalid Said, a 28 year-old businessman who was brutally beaten to death after being pulled from an Internet café by plainclothes policemen in Alexandria.
Advocates claim Said had evidence of police corruption.
Five days later Ghonim secretly launched a Facebook page called "We are all Khalid Said" complete with a graphic image of the disfigured face of Said.
Egyptian authorities disappeared Ghonim on Jan.
28th.
After twelve days in detention Ghonim was released, reborn and recast as iconic hero.
Let's quickly review our activist hero actions.
Ghonim's activism consisted of putting up a Facebook page, getting arrested, sleeping in jail (his words not mine) while the masses spilled their blood and risked their lives to topple a dictatorship.
Come to think of it this was probably not too much different from his management gig at Google.
It took a tech savvy person make the underdogs winners in Egypt and tech savvy people are needed to move social agendas in America.
Unfortunately our underdogs remain ignorant of how to use technology to advance their cause.
Labor unions remain woefully behind in using social media as an organizing tool and minority youth use the Internet to gossip, text, hook up or socialize.
Being a nerd is un-cool in the African-American community.
Meanwhile un-cool super-nerd billionaire Mark Zuckerberg gets an audience with President Obama to talk about jobs and innovation, the kind of innovation not accessible to those who could most benefit from social, economic and political innovation.
Earlier this month in Marquette, Michigan President Obama talked about bridging the digital divide.
He said, "...
you've created new online learning opportunities for K-12 students as far as 30 miles away, some of whom can't always make it to school in a place that averages 200 inches of snow a year.
" I'd like to tell Mr.
Obama I know a kid in Oakland where the weather is mostly beautiful who missed 28 days of school in the last four months of last year because he was caring for a sick grand parent.
I know of no technology solutions to help urban school children attend school online and decrease absenteeism.
Maybe if it snowed in Oakland some new technology solutions would follow.
Our challenges in a mature democracy are more complex than the overthrow of a dictator.
Access to information technology is a problem but understanding and using the technology is a bigger problem.
Ghonim used Facebook to organize protesters but the government shut the site down.
Ghonim had a backup plan.
He used Google Groups to disseminate information and collaborate with his network.
The evil dictator and his henchmen couldn't guess a Google executive would use a Google product to communicate to his network.
Maybe they were stupid.
Is organized labor stupid because they can't figure out how to use social media to strengthen and expand their decaying network? Are minority youth who show no interest in app programming or organizing anything other than a sideshow stupid? Are tech companies who see no competitive advantage in the diversity within our own borders stupid? Are we stupid?
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