Standing with Standing Rock.

1. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a proposed underground oil pipeline, which spans for over 1,134 miles. The Dakota Access Pipeline is controversial because people don’t believe it’s necessary and it can harm the environment. Native Americans have opposed the pipeline, including but not limited to the Meskwaki and Sioux nations. The Dakota Access Pipeline has plans to go through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Standing Rock Indian Reservation is a Hunkpapa, Lakota and Yanktonai Dakota Native American Reservation. Standing Rock Indian Reservation is a sacred/religious ground for these Native Americans, and if the pipeline is built, it would destroy sites, and items of spiritual significance.

1. Social Media has people fighting for social justice by creating Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat pages to educate people about the Dakota Access Pipeline, changing their names on Twitter to reflect their stance on the DAPL by changing their names to #NoDAPL, sharing videos to educate their followers, and friends; as well as sharing a petition.

2. Some of the hashtags people have been using in regards to the Dakota Access Pipeline are #NoDAPL, #NorthDakota, #DAPL, #DakotaAccessPipeline, #StandingRock, #StandWithStandingRock, #HonorTheTreaties, #STOPDAPL, #SacredWater, and #RezpectOurWater.

3. I believe that Social Media is an effective form of fighting for Social Justice, because the social media sites people are using have huge amounts of users. Twitter has over 320 million users, while Instagram has over 500 million, Facebook has over 1.59 billion, and Snapchat has over 100 million users. These are the biggest social media sites that people can be found using every day. President-Elect Donald Trump is a frequent Twitter user, and so if #NoDAPL, or #DAPL is trending, he could see it along with the petitions, and could intervene in the situation.

4. Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, according to Wikipedia. When you think of the role that social media plays in environmental justice, let’s take it a step back and think about the role social media plays in social justice. We can look at the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Black Lives Matter is a movement which campaigns in opposition to the innocent killings of African-Americans by police officers. The Black Lives Matter began as a simple hashtag: #BlackLivesMatter and has since grew to something so much bigger. It has lead to chapters being set up, and non-African-Americans joining in on the campaign for better treatment of colored people. Social Media plays an important part in the fight for Environmental Justice because there a certain people who get all of their news from Social Media, and they’re reading the hashtags, and seeing people who are in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline, will inspire them to educate themselves on the issue, as well as join the fight, and spread their knowledge onto other people.

PART II.

1. The article “Norway’s Largest Bank Sells Assets in Dakota Access Pipeline Company”, is an article that talks about how DNB is in favor of the North Dakota Access Pipeline Company. The DNB has sold over $3.8 billion in assets to help finance the project. When I read that DNB had sold over $3.8 billion to fund the DAPL, I was disappointed because this money could have gone to bigger and better things, but it only goes to prove that people are only interested in getting a bigger payout, which seems like DNB will get that, if the DAPL is built.

1. After reading that a huge foreign company just invested in the DAPL, I want the Americans to know that we need to fight harder, and we need to continue to spread the word about the DAPL, and what it will do to the religious grounds in North and South Dakota. If we continue to educate people on the negative effects of the DAPL by using social media, and protesting, we will see powerful companies such as Fortune 500 companies, and organizations such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, etc. stand up and donate money, time to protest, etc.

CITATIONS.

"Dakota Access Pipeline." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

"Standing Rock Indian Reservation." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

"News about #NoDAPL on Twitter." News about #NoDAPL. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.