RIP Quibi

#endSARS started trending October 8th in Nigeria, in protest of ongoing police brutality from the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad, but the movement gained international attention when the police opened fire on peaceful protesters on October 20th, killing at least twelve people. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and others have used their platforms to amplify the voices of the protestors and to share their own outrage. Sharing some resources for anyone who wants to learn more and support the protestors: the Feminist Coalition is an organization of feminist Nigerian activists; Connected Development supports local communities across Africa; and Amnesty International has more information on the protests. 

RIP Quibi (2020 - 2020). After spending what felt like years building buzz, the short-form streaming service announced its demise on Wednesday. Whether you cite the pandemic, the ongoing streaming war, the quality of content, or the interface for its failure, it’s clear that people didn’t need another way to keep themselves occupied for seven minutes. Let the eulogies begin and the headlines finally end. 

—Erica Beach, Development Assistant

In other techy news, US Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar found a new way to reach young voters: on their favorite mobile game. The reps played Among Us with popular YouTube gamers on Tuesday and live-streamed the session on Twitch. AOC’s stream racked up 439,000 live viewers at once, making it the third most watched Twitch stream ever. It’s cool to see politicians encouraging voting by simply meeting young people where they already are. You can check out the stream here, or just watch this quick fancam that someone on Twitter made, which I think sums up the night pretty well.. 

And of course I’ve gotta share some TikToks that brought me joy this week: this accurate depiction of any given mom and aunt on Thanksgiving and this heartwarming spontaneous mother-son dance.

—Darlene Kenney, Marketing Assistant