( ENSPIRE News ) Get Social Amplifies The Voices of Women Of Color To Be Heard Beyond Borders
ENSPIRE Contributor: Megan Grosfeld
In 2020, Teja Smith founded Get Social to encourage women of color to be in charge of their space for social justice. Get Social is an agency created to impose a safe space for women of color to continue to advocate for people’s rights while working in an environment where they are confident, trusted, heard, and uplifted. Get Social works with political organizations like Rock The Vote and She The People and as a result, placed both brands as the leading organizations facilitating a successful election in 2020.
Get Social is a force to be reckoned with. Their work with foundations and organizations across the country influenced the pandemic, voting rights, climate justice, and criminal justice reform. It is growing to be more successful thanks to the wonderful women leading the way. ENSPIRE was lucky enough to connect with the woman behind it all, Teja Smith, about how she does it.
Did you know from a young age that social justice was what you wanted to do? Was it a gradual build-up or did you know from the get-go?
Social Justice isn’t something you just do, it’s instilled in you without you even realizing it most of the time. Activism has been rooted in my life since birth. Being raised in Oakland, Ca, I got a first-hand look at the community and what it is like to build one within the people. Moving to Los Angeles for college, was a different world from Hollywood, I knew I wanted life here but wanted more than just an industry job. I attended Cal State University Northridge and got my degree in Public Relations but quickly noticed how that job was turning into social media connections. I’m a self-taught social media strategist and learned how to sell things on it before it became heavily monopolized. I then landed a gig doing social media for a tour called #SchoolsNotPrisons that went to low-income areas and inside prisons to give free concerts in 2016 with Pusha T, Miguel, Ty Dolla Sign, Diggy Simmons, Miguel, and many more. It was the exact motivation I needed and the perfect balance between activism and working with the music still. Since then, it opened me into a world of activism that helped build my agency today.
What inspired you to start your own agency?
The need for women of color voices to be heard in the space of social justice work that is surprisingly heavily run by white men.
How do you create and coordinate campaigns?
Every campaign is different. When we receive an inquiry, we look at the places where we can advance and elevate the platform and message. Our day-to-day ranges from strategy, brand design, execution, and more.
What’s your day-to-day look like?
Lots of calls! Something I truly would love to steer away from. But a lot of creativity as well, at my agency I encourage the girls to watch the popular shows on TV now, so it’s a mix of watching trending videos, TV shows for memes, and getting into creator mode for ideas.
How do you tackle advocating for so many movements at once?
Staying aware of facts. There’s nothing I don’t research to make sure our messaging is the correct information. The struggle is really prioritizing issues, there are so many things happening at once and it’s on us to get things out, but you don’t want to seem like you’re ignoring something else.
As a woman of color, how do you help others get their voices heard?
By employing them and building them up to be the best they can be!
What kept you motivated in times of hardship?
Changing the world. We have not had hardships as Black people, so why let something going on now stop me from my overall goal of creating change.
How do you make content relatable and digestible to your audience?
Staying in touch with pop culture and hip hop culture. Politics was made to confuse and frustrate people of color, so making it relatable and understandable is our mission at Get Social.
How do you use social media as a tool for social justice?
We are the tool! We plan, we use our creativity and we get people to take action on social media. Whether it be a post, a video/reel, signing a petition, or making people start a conversation about a certain topic.
The future is bright for Get Social. Teja Smith has spent the last decade combatting social justice and political awareness through social media. Her team and she build campaigns that impact and uplift underprivileged communities across the country. Some of her projects like #SchoolsNotPrisons, #RockTheVote, #SheThePeople, and other organizations have helped shape the country we live in today and contributed to the greater good of communities. Through hip-hop culture, she continues to make the content of political topics relatable. She created Get Social as an outlet for women of color to make their voices heard and it does just that and more! It’s a perfect way to get involved, inspired, and heard all while making a difference in the lives of Black and Brown communities.
For more information about Get Social click here.
To keep up with Get Social visit their Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
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