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#AfricansinUkraine: an analysis of Black witnessing and hashtag activism at the borders of war

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#AfricansinUkraine:
An Analysis of Black Witnessing and Hashtag Activism at the Borders of War

By:
Iliya Molambore Kure

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC
ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)

May 2023

Copyright 2023 Iliya Molambore Kure

ii

Acknowledgments

I cannot express how grateful I am for the tremendous support I received throughout this
thesis process.
I bless and glorify God for the opening and opportunity at the prestigious Annenberg
School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. I am also
grateful to Him for His daily provision and support throughout my life.
I came to the United States from Nigeria to study in a different culture. I acknowledge
God’s hands; I commute from Orange County to Los Angeles to attend classes and other
academic requirements.
I thank my mother and late father for their discipline in raising me, instilling confidence
and hard work in me, and constantly reminding me that I can attain any height in life. They taught
me to be steadfast and patient and gave me unconditional love and support. I thank my wife,
Mary, and our two boys, Hillel (Yambali) and Harel (Molambore), for believing in me and their
continuous prayers for me to succeed. I appreciate your trust in me, despite the long distance
between us, and my absence from home. My siblings, Eunice, Unia, Lydia, Ruth (late), Ishaku,
and Maryamu, for your encouragement and support. I also appreciate my cousins (Helen, Flora,
Jordan & family, and Lamela & family), my nieces (Bethel and Naomi), aunties, uncles, cousins,
and in-laws who never stopped supporting and praying for me.
I sincerely thank my thesis committee members for their support, guidance, and kindness
throughout this process. Dr. Allissa Richardson, your kindness and interest in my topic and work
was exactly what I needed from a committee chair to take me to the finish line. I also remain
grateful for believing in me and the encouragement that propelled me into the academic research
world. Prof. Gabriel Kahn, your professional and thorough approaches inspired me to draw up a
iii

study plan that challenged my current understanding of journalism scholarship. Dr. Lisa Pecot-
Hébert, the foundation you laid during the Summer Immersion session remains indispensable
and captivating. Thank you all for the invaluable support and mentorship that helped me focus
on Black activism.
I cannot go without acknowledging my other professors, Sandy Tolan and Afua Hirsch,
as well as my friends, colleagues, and professional mentors here at USC. I appreciate the Dean
of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Willow Bay, and the Director of
the School of Journalism, Dr. Gordon Stables, for your generosity toward financial support for
my education.
The experience from this journalism program at Annenberg was life-changing and
significant.
Funding Disclosure

Fieldwork for this thesis was provided by the USC Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice
Lab, under the auspices of a year-long, $10,000 student research fellowship. The Lab provided
travel support to Nigeria, recording equipment and copyediting services.

iv

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi
List of Charts................................................................................................................................. vii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………Viii
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Significance of the Study…………………………………………………………………. 2
Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………………… 2
Definition of Terms………………………………………………………………………. 3
Chapter 1: Background ................................................................................................................... 5
#RhodesMustFall (South Africa)………………………………………………………… 8
#FixTheCountry (Ghana)………………………………………………………………… 8
#ThisFlag (Zimbabwe)…………………………………………………………………… 9
#BringBackMutharika (Malawi)………………………………………………………... 10
#ShutItAllDown (Namibia)…………………………………………………………….. 10
#CongoIsBleeding (Congo DR)………………………………………………………… 11
#EndSARS (Nigeria)……………………………………………………………………. 11
Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 13
Motivation for Black Witnessing……………………………………………………….. 14
Internet Penetration in Nigeria………………………………………………………….. 14
Social Media Affordances………………………………………………………………. 15
Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 17
Group 1: Finding the Creator of #AfricansInUkraine…………………………………… 17
v

Group 2: Finding Individuals Who Used the #AfricansInUkraine Hashtag……………. 17
Group 3: Finding Individuals Who Amplified Students’ Messages……………………. 19
Selection of Interview Participants from Twitter………………………………………. 19
The Interview Process…………………………………………………………………... 20
Chapter 4: Findings ....................................................................................................................... 23
RQ1: What inspired African students to use smartphones to broadcast their issues?...... 23
RQ2: How effective were mobile phones in the dissemination of their stories?.............. 24
RQ3: How did the students use Twitter and WhatsApp to spread the news?................... 28
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 30
Shortcomings of the Study……………………………………………………………… 30
Suggested Areas of Future Study……………………………………………………….. 30
References ………………………………………………………………………………………. 32

vi

List of Tables

Table 1: Profile of students interviewed ………………………………………………… 21
Table 2: Profile of non-students interviewed ………………………………………….… 22
Table 3: News reports carrying #AfricansinUkraine in response to Black witnessing…... 25

vii

List of Charts

Chart 1: Response from 10 Nigerian students who escaped the war in Ukraine…………… 29
Chart 2: 5 Non-student Nigerians interviewed on #AfricansinUkraine…………………….. 29

viii

Abstract

When the war between Russia and Ukraine commenced, many Black African students in
Ukraine were denied passage to escape the impending violence due to their skin color. The
students, mostly Nigerians, resorted to using Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp to
disseminate information about the racism they faced while fleeing the war in Ukraine. They created
hashtags like #NigeriansInUkraine and #AfricansInUkraine to appeal to the public for help. This
thesis explores how African students at Ukraine’s borders used the smartphone, Twitter, Telegram
and WhatsApp to carry out Black witnessing and hashtag activism, which attracted global attention
to their plight. This international media spectacle eventually led to safe passage for the students
into neighboring countries.

Keywords: #AfricansinUkraine, Black witnessing, citizen journalism, hashtag activism,
smartphones, social media

1
Introduction

When Russia attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 (Aljazeera, 2022), thousands fled Ukraine
through neighboring countries to seek refuge. Due to the absence of commercial flights (Timmins,
2022), they resorted to using cars, buses, and trains to reach their destinations. Many of those
fleeing were Africans, especially students of Black skin, and they were racially discriminated
against (Ojukwu, 2022), stopped at the borders, and prevented from leaving the country
(Pietromarchi, 2022).
While the mainstream media quickly showcased and celebrated acts of heroism by
Ukrainians against Russians (Smith & Dorn, 2022), they largely ignored acts of racism by
Ukrainian security agents against Black Africans, especially students from institutions of higher
learning in the country (Dovi, 2022).
Little was known about the condition of Black Africans until they took matters into their
own hands. They created #AfricansInUkraine, leveraging Black witnessing and hashtag activism
to raise awareness about inequalities at the border. Most of the videos they posted, especially at
the railway stations and the Ukrainian-Polish border, showed how the security agents selectively
allowed white people to board trains and other modes of transportation but denied Black Africans
access to the trains to escape (Carrillo, 2022).
The global outcry against the actions of the security agents (Chege & Heinrich, 2022)
brought the needed relief to the African victims. They had the opportunity to leave Ukraine for
neighboring countries (White, 2022). From there, many African governments were able to
evacuate their citizens (Abdulsemiu, 2022) – with some governments providing opportunities for
students to continue their education back at home (Busari, 2022).
2
Significance of the Study
This report explores how Black Africans in Ukraine created counternarratives about their
plight while escaping the war, which challenged mainstream media reporting about the war itself,
and highlighted racism faced by Black students at the borders. These youth acted as citizen
journalists and activists using the hashtag #AfricansinUkraine to push their stories into the global
news cycle. The research questions that guided this study are as follows:
RQ1: What inspired African students to use smartphones to broadcast their issues?
RQ2: How effective were mobile phones in the dissemination of their stories?
RQ3: How did the students use Twitter and WhatsApp to spread the news?

Theoretical Framework
Two theoretical frameworks supported this inquiry: Black witnessing and hashtag
activism. The theory of Black witnessing, as postulated by Allissa V. Richardson (2020), is
founded upon three assumptions: it (1) assumes an investigative editorial stance to advocate for
African American civil rights; (2) co-opts racialized online spaces to serve as its ad-hoc news
distribution service; and (3) relies on interlocking black public spheres, which are endowed with
varying levels of political agency, to engage diverse audiences.
Black witnesses double as documentarians of injustice, and racialize online spaces to
disseminate information that will lead to securing their civil rights and freedom. To argue this
point, in her book, Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and the New
Protest #Journalism, Richardson (2020) states, “Black witnessing reclaims black lives and stories
from the margin. Black witnessing corrects false narratives. Black witnessing gives us new data
3
points around which we can theorize more intersectional ideas of how journalism works. Black
witnessing is about seeing and being seen, about being valued and believed.”
Her scholarly work examines the struggles of Black Americans who adopted smartphones
to cry against police brutality and canvass for freedom using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
Overall, Black witnessing (Richardson, 2020) and informational power (French, and Raven, 1959)
have allowed Black people to control the flow of information needed to get things done.
In their book, #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice, Sarah Jackson,
Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles (2020) posit that Twitter is a reliable platform for the
disenfranchised, including Black Americans, women, and transgender people. Their work
highlighted how these marginalized groups, which are not covered by the mainstream media, rely
on Twitter hashtags to advance counternarratives and promote social issues that pertain to their
lives.
Definition of Terms
Black people: This term refers to individuals relating or belonging to people with black or
dark brown skin, especially those living in Africa or whose ancestors originally came from Africa.
Black witnessing: Black witnessing is a distinct form of media witnessing that assumes an
investigative or sousveillant editorial stance to advocate for African American civil rights; co-opts
racialized online spaces, such as Black Twitter, to serve as its ad-hoc news wire; and relies on
interlocking black public spheres, which are endowed with varying levels of political agency, to
engage diverse audiences (Richardson, 2020).
4
Discrimination: Cambridge Dictionary defines discrimination as treating a person or
particular group of people differently, significantly worse than how you treat others, because of
their race, gender, sexuality, etc.
Hashtag activism: Hashtag activism is the act of fighting for or supporting a cause that
people advocate through social media like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other networking
websites. This is the kind of activism that does not require any action from the person other than
sharing or "liking" a post or "retweeting" tweets on Twitter (Margaret Rouse, 2012).
Citizen journalism: Encyclopedia Britannica defines citizen journalism as journalism
conducted by people who are not professional journalists but disseminate information using Web
sites, blogs, and social media. Citizen journalism has expanded its worldwide influence despite
continuing concerns over whether citizen journalists are as reliable as trained professionals.
Citizens in disaster zones have provided instant text and visual reporting from the scene.

5
Chapter 1: Background

On Feb. 24, 2022, people living in Ukrainian towns close to the country’s border with
Russia heard loud sounds of explosions rocking their cities (Hodge et al., 2022). Among them
were thousands of African students, professionals, and other foreigners. That was the day Russia
started its military assaults on Ukraine. Catherine Kirpu, a year–three Nigerian medical student at
Kharkiv National University Ukraine, woke up to loud sounds of explosions on Feb. 24, 2022. She
was confused. She initially thought it was the sound of fireworks. When she came to her senses,
she remembered that New Year's Day was long gone, and it was the end of February. The first
thing to do was check WhatsApp. She opened her church group, the medical students' group, and
the international students' group. The stories were the same: attack on Ukraine by Russia (C. Kirpu,
personal communication, Dec. 13, 2022).
Before the war, there were more than 80,000 international students schooling in Ukraine –
many of them from Africa. A breakdown of the top three African countries with students in
Ukraine shows Morocco had 8,233; Nigeria had 4,379; and Egypt had 3,499 students (Study in
Ukraine, 2020). The Eastern European country was attractive and a top destination for higher
education for African students. This is because of its affordability compared to schools in the
United Kingdom and Germany, and its spot as a gateway to Europe. It provided better prospects
for graduate students (Ali, 2022).
Once the war started, however, many people rushed to the country’s few available bomb
shelters. For others, the underground railway tunnel was the destination, as advised by the
Ukrainian government. Catherine Kirpu and another Nigerian, Jemimah John Nagayawa, a fourth-
year medical student at Kharkov National Medical University were among those that took cover
6
at the bomb shelters in their various cities (J. H. Nagayawa, personal communication, Nov. 8,
2022).
Explaining further, C. Kirpu (personal communication, Dec. 13, 2022) said, “For me, the
bomb shelter close to my house was the metro station and I remember we rushed there. The scene
there too was very scary because there were ammo tanks going up and down and when they were
passing, it was a very loud sound and everybody was just afraid.” She added that her classmates
thought “...maybe it’s the Russian army that has come into residential areas,”. Catherine said the
condition of the bomb shelters declined rapidly within the first few days, recalling: “We had to use
the toilets, which were terrible. We couldn’t get any sleep. We couldn’t get good food.”
Catherine said she called her dad, who sent her money from Nigeria. Then, she made a plan
for evacuation. She said, “The first thing I could think about was to go and withdraw. Because I
knew that now we probably need to use transport[ion] and pay for transport[ion]. And I [knew I]
would need cash. I usually don’t even walk around with cash,” she said.
By Feb. 27, 2022, Ukrainian airports were shut down due to damages inflicted on them by
Russian bombardments. The airports were among the first targets (J. H. Nagayawa, personal
communication, Nov. 8, 2022). Citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom had left the
country already, following pre-war advice by their governments to evacuate. But Ukrainian
universities convinced international students to stay, claiming that the war drum was mere
propaganda (B. A. Adam, personal communication, Nov. 27, 2022).
As the shelling continued into the second and third day, the media kept reporting on the
assault by Russia on Ukraine, setting the agenda for what people should pay attention to, and
overlooking other humanitarian issues at the borders. The media had already been accused of
biases in reportage of the war - showcasing Ukraine as a Western country under attack by Russia
7
(Timofeev & Charushin, 2022). The world knew little about the situation as it pertained to Black
people escaping the war.
The African students’ conditions came to light when some of them decided to take the
matter into their own hands using their smartphones. On Feb. 26, 2022, a UK-based Nigerian
named Damilare Arah, via his eponymous Twitter handle, used the #AfricansinUkraine hashtag
and posted a video (shot by a Black witness) that went viral within hours. The footage showed a
large number of Black people in the night, including a woman holding an infant, The video has a
voiceover that says, “….they are not allowing any Black people to enter inside the gates. We are
all here, it’s only Ukrainians that they are allowing in. Even the ones with kids they’re not allowing
them in. Some have been here for days, and nobody is entertaining any questions, only Ukrainian
women and kids they are allowing into this gate. Because the gate is blocked….”
In an accompanying text to the video, Damilare posted, “….The lady in the video is holding
a 2 month old and it’s 3°c outside we are in search of aid and hostels.”
Soon after, a different video posted by another Nigerian student, Nze, via his Twitter handle
@Nzekiev, showed himself and other Black students at a Ukrainian border stopped by some
soldiers at Ukrainian - Polish border, saying the military and police were threatening to shoot them.
He said some of them had been at the border for two days under the ‘scorching’ cold weather,
while many have gone back to Lviv.”
The tweets by @DamilareArah and @Nze using #AfricansinUkraine amplified the
localized Black witnessing in the region to a global audience by the end of the day. Moreover, the
hashtag activism (Jackson et al., 2020) by Black people and calls from around the world on
Ukrainian authorities to allow Blacks safe passage to neighboring countries assisted in paving the
way.
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Damilare and Nze exemplify the growing trend of Black Africans who use smartphones
and social media to evoke change. This contingent has used these emergent technologies to build
coalitions and fight social injustices, from bad governance to human rights (Ogone, 2020). Some
of their recent campaigns include #RhodesMustFall (South Africa); #FixTheCountry (Ghana);
#ThisFlag (Zimbabwe); #BringBackMutharika (Malawi); #ShutItAllDownNamibia (Namibia);
#CongoIsBleeding (Congo DR) #EndSARS (Nigeria).
#RhodesMustFall (South Africa)
#RhodesMustFall, which received global attention, was a protest movement that began on
March 9, 2015, and called for the removal of the statue of a former British imperialist and colonial
master, Cecil Rhodes, at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The concept of the protest was to
“decolonize” education across South Africa and provide access to tertiary education and student
accommodation.
Student protests in support of or directly inspired by the removal of the statue and the
Rhodes Must Fall movement also occurred at other universities in South Africa, the United
Kingdom, and the United States to address Black alienation within higher education. They include
the University of Edinburgh; Oxford University (Chaudhuri, 2016); the University of California,
Berkeley (Sosibo, 2015).
#FixTheCountry (Ghana)
#FixTheCountry was a non-partisan and non-political civic movement started by Ghanaian
youths on Twitter in early May 2021 that demanded an end to bad governance (Fix The Country,
n.d.). The protests evolved from an online agitation and metamorphosed into physical protests on
the streets of Accra and other regions (Rahman, 2021). They opposed the introduction of a new
tax proposal, the electronic transactions levy (E-levy), by the government. The campaign quickly
9
went viral as thousands joined the protest movement.
In 2021 the #FixTheCountry movement forced the Ghanaian government to review
downward the price of fuel by eight pesewas. The price of the fuel per liter as of December 2020
was Ghc 4.7 per liter, but by May 2021, it was selling for around Ghc 6.1 per liter (BBC, 2021).
This led to outrage among petroleum consumers, who protested the increase through social
media using #FixTheCountry. They also served the notice of embarking on a street protest on May
9, 2021. In response, the government announced a price cut effective May 5, 2021 (BBC, 2021;
Krippahl, 2021).
#ThisFlag (Zimbabwe)
#ThisFlag movement is a social and political movement that originated from Pastor Evan
Mawarire who in a 2016 online video criticized President Robert Mugabe’s style of leadership
that led to economic hardship in Zimbabwe. Pastor Mawarire said it does not reflect the symbolism
behind the flag of Zimbabwe [agriculture, mineral wealth, peace] (Government of Zimbabwe,
n.d.). The activism led to disapproval of the falling economic conditions of Zimbabwe by the
country’s citizens. Many of them endorsed the video he posted on April 19, 2016, on Facebook,
leading thousands, especially the youth, to embark on a 25-day online activism using videos.
The campaign focused on the loss of their aspirations and pointed out the existing
corruption. On July 5, 2016, Mawarire urged people to boycott work by staying home. The call for
stay-at-home led the government to accuse Mawarire of betraying his country, it was interpreted
as a criminal offense in Zimbabwe. The movement spurred citizens to buy flags and wear them
around their necks, an act which the government later banned, and also banned vendors from
selling flags.
10
#BringBackMutharika (Malawi)
#BringBackMutharika was started by Malawians in search of their president, Peter
Mutharika, who left Malawi on September 15 to attend the United Nations General Assembly. The
UN meeting in New York City ended on September 26, but Mutharika has not returned to his
country, leading to speculations about his health (Chutel, 2016).
About a month after the UNGA meeting, Malawi government spokesperson Malison Ndau
told journalists that the president was still meeting “a number of people one-by-one,” without
revealing the identity of the people or where the meeting was taking place.
Following pressure, on October 11th, Malawi announced that the president will return on
October 16th, adding that in addition to the UN summit, he “also attended to various government
businesses.” (The East African, 2016)
The failure to communicate properly was worrisome to citizens of a country that earlier
lost a sitting president, Bingu wa Mutharika, who collapsed on April 5, 2012, and was rushed to a
South African hospital. Two days later, the government announced that he passed on.
The citizens later learned that the late Mutharika died in the ambulance even before leaving
the country, but was left for the South African hospital to pronounce his death.
This informs the agitation to know the whereabouts of their president. especially with a
repeat of poor communication lines between the presidency and the citizens, and a repeat of what
transpired during Mutharika’s administration.
#ShutItAllDown (Namibia)
#ShutItAllDown protests were anti-Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) protests
across Namibia aimed at addressing increasing cases of assault on women. The protests started on
October 8, 2020, following the killing of 22-year-old Shannon Wasserfall, whose remains were
11
reportedly found buried in a shallow grave near Walvis Bay six months after she went missing.
The 22-year-old Wasserfall went missing on April 10, 2020 (Shikongo, 2020). After six
months of disappearance, her father received an anonymous text that his daughter was buried in a
grave near the town. He informed the Namibia Police, who dug out her remains (Van Der Schyff,
2020). Two days later, one woman and her boyfriend were arrested in connection to Wasserfall's
murder. This sparked protests, especially by the youth, who mobilized themselves and created
#ShutItAllDown on Twitter and took to the streets to campaign against rape and killing of women
in the country.
#CongoIsBleeding (Congo DR)
#CongoIsBleeding was created in mid-October 2020, to draw attention to the exploitation
taking place in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Online protesters using
the hashtag on social media said there had been ongoing child slavery, deadly conflicts, and
corruption as a result of activities of foreign companies mining minerals in the country.
Congo DRC has a large deposit of cobalt, a mineral used in making lithium-ion batteries,
as well as magnetic steels in phones and laptops, among others. The east of the country, where the
mines are located, houses about 40,000 child laborers digging for the minerals (Ojewale, 2022).
Reports say children who work 12 hours a day are paid $2 a day (Ohanesian & Lawson, 2021).
The #CongoIsBleeding protests attracted the attention of celebrities within and outside
Africa, including NBA star Serge Ibaka, who tweeted to draw people's attention to the plight of
the children.
#EndSARS (Nigeria)
This hashtag protest was held in major Nigerian cities in October 2020, leading to the
disbandment of the special police unit, known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), created
12
in 1992 under the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, as a masked police unit to
perform undercover operations, to detain, investigate, and prosecute people involved in crimes like
armed robbery, kidnapping, and other violent crimes. The unit, however, became notorious for the
extra-judicial killing of citizens, especially the Nigerian youths. Many promises were initially
made for reform by police, but no action was taken, leading to the protests.
The hashtag (#EndSARS) and agitation started in 2017 but gained momentum in October
2020 following more revelations on social media of abuses by squad members. Solidarity protests
and demonstrations by Nigerians in the diaspora and sympathizers occurred in many major cities,
including former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and education activist Malala Yousafzai.
About 28 million social media posts bearing #EndSARS have been disseminated on Twitter alone.
All the above-listed acts of Black witnessing and hashtag activism resulted in creating
positive changes in African countries where they were used. It goes to show that Africans have
mastered the act of using social media and hashtags to arrive at desired goals.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
Social media is a catalyst for social change (Schaffer & Tamble, 2022), and has the
stimulating ability to change the way social movements occur (Bonilla et al., 2021). More
specifically, hashtag activism (Jackson et al., 2020) —sometimes used interchangeably with online
activism, or social media activism — is the act of fighting for, or supporting a cause through
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other networking websites. It
is the kind of activism that does not require much action from individuals other than “sharing” or
"liking" a post or "retweeting" tweets on Twitter (Margaret Rouse, 2012). It is characterized by
interconnectivity and occupation of spaces (Mateos & Erro, 2020).
The hashtag sign (#) was first proposed for use on Twitter in 2007 by a former Google
developer, Chris Messina, when he posted, “[H]ow do you feel about using # (pound) for groups.
As in #barcamp [msg]?” (Panko, 2017). He proposed creating a meta tag allowing users to
systematically group their work and track dynamic content related to any particular event or topic.
Initially, Twitter criticized the hashtag, saying, "these things were for nerds" (Panko, 2017). The
company changed its mind, owing to the impact of #sandiegofire later that year, which assisted
users in providing updates on the fire and helped others track tweets related to the safety of their
loved ones (Panko, 2017).
The term “hashtag activism” was first used by The Guardian in 2011, during one of the
most popular digital activism campaigns, the #OccupyWallStreet movement (Chubb, 2021).
Today, the quest for online attention and the desire to outpace competitors in bringing issues to
the front burner drives individuals to adopt digital strategies like hashtag activism as critical
components of social movements (Santos & Reis, 2022) and civic engagements (Methodology,
2022).
14
The marginalized have over time become the set of people that patronize social media the
most. They have mastered the use of hashtags to mobilize and advocate for social issues, often
ignored by the media (Maples, 2008). They believe they have to take up their matter themselves
whether as a community or as individuals using available tools at their disposal, otherwise, the
issues will not be addressed.
They are the ones always championing the course of hashtag activism in all climes. They
spearheaded the Arab Spring, #OccupyWallStreet #BlackLivesMatter, #EndSARS,
#CongoIsBleeding, others only join them to lend voices to the cause.
Motivation for Black Witnessing
Many youths are motivated by the connection for live interaction between them and their
friends as well as people they become acquainted with on social media. In that regard, social media
creates the satisfaction of the absence of face-to-face contact created for individuals who suffer
from limited social resources (Quiroz, 2008).
Social media has the power to connect users with a large heterogeneous community across
the world, defying boundaries. The technology behind the social media tools like Twitter and
Facebook makes it easy to disseminate information. Activists have the freedom to share content
ranging from simple text messages to pictures and videos. They can galvanize support for a course
within hours.
Internet Penetration in Nigeria
Despite ongoing efforts by various African governments, the digital gap has remained
wide, especially between the wealthy and the poor. Social media is also urban-based in most
countries. However, we see high penetration of smartphones and utilization of platforms like
Facebook and WhatsApp gaining ground in Nigeria, where even the elderly are beginning to use
15
the tool. We see senior citizens engaging actively with WhatsApp in sending images or making
video calls with their children who live and work in faraway lands.
Nigerian authorities say as of August 2022, there were over 150.2 million active internet
users and over 210 million active mobile phone users in the country (Ibrahim, 2022). Nigeria’s
internet penetration rate stood at 55.4 percent of the total population [220 million] at the start of
2023, an increase of 2.9 million (+2.4 percent) between 2022 and 2023. This indicates that Nigeria
is one of the fastest-growing countries in digital penetration (Kemp, 2023).
For a country of over 220 million people, it implies that about 98 million did not use the
internet as of 2023, suggesting that 44.6 percent of the population remained offline at the beginning
of the year (Kemp, 2023).
Social Media Affordances
Today, we are seeing the power of “status update” and “Group” features on WhatsApp,
Facebook and Telegram, which are also used to disseminate information at a high speed among
various online connections (Sanders, 2023). It allows users to share thoughts, questions, pictures,
links, videos, or anything else they would like to share (András, 2022). Additionally, the “Group”
feature has the flexibility with which members of a virtual community are able to interact and share
or forward messages from one virtual group to another, reaching a different set of audiences
(Turistiati, 2023).
Each of these platforms has specific guidelines for operation and the number of individuals
that they can accommodate per group. For instance, as of the end of 2022, each WhatsApp Group
is able to register up to 1024 members; whereas the Telegram Group accommodates up to 200,000
people in each group (Wilde et al., 2022). For Facebook, the number is limitless. All of the
platforms also support the hashtag and mention features. These are features with which individuals
16
are able to connect and exchange information and mobilize (Telegram, 2015). By design, Twitter
is built to network ideas and topics using categorization features like hashtags (Sajjad, 2017). It
does not require any form of social reciprocity between users but relies solely on users following
individuals or the topics in which they are interested. It is powered by hashtags and mentions.
In contrast, Facebook and other chat groups like WhatsApp and Telegram were built on
the concept of friendship, where individuals first agree to connect before a stronger relationship is
established. Facebook has given users the power to unfriend or block one another at any point they
are not interested in relating with (Facebook, n.d.). So also, in the chat groups built by WhatsApp
and Telegram, users can remain or exit any group they do not want to belong to.
The safe space social media provides to friends and allies also gives them the power to
mobilize themselves for any purpose to attain a common goal (The Social Institute, 2021). This
makes it easy for people to mobilize using social media platforms .
The hashtag on Twitter is a powerful tool, able to reach a diverse set of people in all parts
of the world who are not connected under any social media group. No wonder campaigns like the
#BringBackOurGirls mobilized people, including the then-first lady of the United States, Michelle
Obama (Epstein, 2014). This same power of Twitter and hashtag motivated the students in Ukraine
to embark on Black witnessing and hashtag activism.

17
Chapter 3: Methodology
For this study, I traveled to Nigeria to conduct semi-structured interviews with returnees
from Ukraine. I also conducted a Zoom interview with a UK-based activist and several students
who moved to countries other than Nigeria. I focused on three groups of individuals: (1) the first
person to use the #AfricansinUkraine hashtag; (2) the individuals whose tweets were most quoted
by the media; and (3) individuals who amplified the African students’ messages.
Group 1: Finding the Creator of #AfricansInUkraine
To arrive at who created, or started tweeting with the hashtag #AfricansInUkraine, I
searched Twitter using the string ‘from:username since:yyyy-mm-dd until:yyyy-mm-dd’ in the
search box. From my findings, the first tweet that carries the hashtag #AfricansInUkraine was
posted by @baybetizzy, on Feb. 24, 2022, at 12:22 AM. That was the first day of the Russian
bombardment. The tweet reads” “#africansinUkraine pray[er]s are with you all.”
Group 2: Finding Individuals Who Used the #AfricansInUkraine Hashtag
To arrive at individuals who were quoted the most, I searched the keyword
‘#AfricansInUkraine’ on Google, and focused on news platforms that reported on the hashtag
within the first five days of the war. I limited myself to the first 10 media platforms quoting
students and activists who used the #AfricansInUkraine in their Twitter posts.
I found out that the two most quoted individuals in the media were Nigerians,
@DamilareArah, and @Nzekiev. I then created a timeline of who used the hashtag as the war
began. On day one of the attacks in Ukraine, the second use of the hashtag was by an individual
named ‘Juls’ via the handle @Scoopatumana_ on Feb. 24, 2022, at 12:34 AM. His tweet read:
“#AfricansinUkraine Please stay safe, our pray[er]s are with you all.”
18
By the second day of the attacks, on Feb. 25, 2022, two other Twitter users posted using
#AfricansInUkraine. In their tweets, they specifically highlighted the plight of African students
escaping the war in Ukraine. The first person, Atù Ndìgbo, tweeted at 10:03 AM via the handle
@Datuanya. His tweet read: “@_AfricanUnion @MBuhari @SholaMos1 @10DowningStreet
@BBCAfrica @CNN @GeoffreyOnyeama @kelechnekoff. Reports are that African/Nigerian
students especially Male fleeing #UkraineWar are turned back at #Polish border!
#UkraineUnderAttack #AfricansinUkraine #Ukraine.”
The second person on Day 2 of the attacks was @unitedinminds, who tweeted: “Please, I
urge everyone to raise awareness on the #Africans stuck in #Ukraine due to #Russia’s attacks &
#Poland’s unwillingness to let them in. #AfricansInUkraine #NoMore #KnowMore #Refugees
@Refugees @RefugeesMedia @RESCUEorg @antonioguterres @DaugEmbassyTV,
@campaigner71.”
On the third day of Russian attacks, African students in Ukraine began documenting their
plight with accompanying videos. One of the earliest videos on Twitter was from @DamilareArah,
who wrote: “The official visuals of Ukrainians blocking Africans from getting on trains.
#AfricansinUkraine.” The tweet garnered more than 40,000 retweets. He followed with another
video on the same day at 2:33 PM. It read: “#AfricansinUkraine the community of Africans in
Ukraine stranded at the boarder [sic] much of them women and children. This is happening now.
The lady in the video is holding a 2 month old and it’s 3°c outside we are in search of aid and
hostels.”
On Feb. 27, 2022, at 12:44 AM, @DamilareArah posted another video of African students
being held at gunpoint by Polish border patrol officials. The young people screamed fearfully:
“We are students! We don’t have [fire]arms!”
19
Another Nigerian whose tweets trended is Nze with the handle @nzekiev. One of his most
read tweets from Feb. 26, 2022 reported: “Been at the Poland-Ukraine border for the past 5 hours
& they’re segregating. Ukrainians the other side, Africans & other foreigners on the other side.
Like 100 Ukrainians first, then two Africans & other foreigners. Well, if their citizens leave, who
will fight for them? We?”
Later that evening, at 9:25 PM, Nze posted a video on his handle. The tweet caption read:
“Watch how they are threatening to shoot us! We are currently at the Ukraine -Poland border.
Their Police and Army refused to let Africans cross they only allow Ukrainian. Some have slept
here for 2 days under this scorching cold weather, while many have gone back to Lviv.”
Group 3: Finding Individuals Who Amplified Students’ Messages
Chibuzor Rosemary Onwugbonu (@ChyLady) was the first to provide information about
the names, phone numbers and other identifying details of Nigerians who were waiting at
neighboring borders to render help. She also provided contact information of Nigerian embassies
in neighboring countries. Other Twitter users retweeted what she posted. Onwugbonu also created
a Telegram Group and led Twitter Space discussions that assisted students with useful information.
Another person that played a big role is Bayero Abduljaleel Adam (@jaleelbayero), one of the
Nigerian students in Ukraine. He also hosted Twitter Space to discuss destination country options
for escaping students. Both Onwugbonu and Adam agreed to be interviewed for this study.
Selection of Interview Participants from Twitter
After finding the above exemplars from each of my three groups, I conducted a snowball
technique, both here in the U.S. and in Nigeria, to identify students schooling in Ukraine that
escaped the war to any country, or returned to Nigeria. Most commonly, I sent direct messages to
20
these students and activists via Twitter, requesting interviews on the topic of #AfricansinUkraine
and their roles in the campaign. I sought out @baybetizzy @Damilola, @Nzekiev, @ChyLady,
and @JaleelBayero, especially since they used the hashtag most prolifically. @ChyLady and
@JaleelBayero agreed to grant me the interview.
The Interview Process
Prior to each interview, I did introduce myself as both a journalist and a researcher on the
#AfricansinUkraine campaign. I stated that I will use the interview material to write this paper,
and also produce works of journalism, such as podcasts, and feature stories. I also sought their
permission to record the process, which they all granted. I used a Zoom H6 Handy Recorder to
document their interviews.
I began by asking the student his/her name, where they schooled, and what year they
were in their studies. I then asked them to share how they heard about the war and how they
escaped. I also asked about their experiences with discrimination in Ukraine, and if they knew
anyone else who had shared experiences of racism at the borders.
I interviewed a total of 15 individuals between Oct. and Dec. 2022. Ten among the
respondents were students, out of which eight returned to Nigeria, while two stayed abroad.
Among the five non-students, two were Nigerian government officials, one a volunteer who
tweeted, one parent, and one a university staff member.
Eleven of the interviews were conducted in person, whereas the other four were virtually
via Zoom conferencing software. The average interview duration was 32 minutes.

21
Table 1
Profile of students interviewed
Name of Student Ukrainian School Course
Year in school when
war began
Posted on social
media?
Catherine Kirpu
Kharkiv National
University
Medicine 3
rd
Year WhatsApp status
Ekundayo Daniel Sumy State University Medicine 3
rd
Year No
Oladejo Olakunle Sumy State University Medicine 3
rd
Year No
Marie Akpor
Vinnytsa National
Medical University
Medicine 2
nd
Year No
Ebere Oluwaseun
V.N. Karazin Kharkiv
National University
Medicine 1
st
Year No
Olamide Oyefeso
Kharkov National
Medical University
Medicine 6
th
Year WhatsApp
Precius Keltume Buba
Vinnytsia National
Pirogov Medical
University
Medicine 2
nd
Year No
Jemimah John
Nagayawa
Kharkov National
Medical University
Medicine 4
th
Year WhatsApp status
Meshack Musa
International European
University, Kyiv
Medicine 2
nd
Year No
Bayero Abduljaleel
Adam
Ternopil National
Medical University
Medicine 3
rd
Year
Twitter,
WhatsApp

22
Table 2
Profile of non-students interviewed
Name of Respondent Pace of Work Rank
Role in
#AfricansinUkraine
Abdulrahman Terab
Nigerians in
Diaspora
Commission
Director Technology
Transfer, Investment
& Housing
Flagging the incident
to the Nigerian
government for action
Bolaji Akinremi
Ministry of Foreign
Affairs
Former Director
Consular and Legal
Services
Evacuation of
students back to
Nigeria
Monica Alexander
Ankeli
Bingham University
Director Linkages
and Transnational
Education
Provision of
admission space and
absorption of 48
returnee students into
Bingham University
Chibuzor Rosemary
Onwugbonu
Information
Technology/Fintech
Product Manager Hashtag activism
Simon Bognet
Farmer/Retiree
Lecturer
Parent of student
Parental guidance to
student

23
Chapter 4: Findings
This study interrogated three core research questions, which centered the Africans’ lived
experiences of Black witnessing, the effectiveness of their campaign, and the technological
affordances that made their political communication possible. This section outlines the myriad
findings that the semistructured interviews revealed.
RQ1: What inspired African students to use smartphones to broadcast their issues?
FQ1: Key drivers of the #AfricansInUkraine campaign were Nigerians in the global
diaspora, who longed to help fellow Black Africans trapped in Ukraine, of which the majority were
Nigerian nationals. They used text, pictures, and videos to disseminate information across various
social media platforms that assisted in reaching different target audiences thereby reaching
millions across the globe.
Combined efforts of students and activists involved in the #AfricansinUkraine campaign
persuaded mainstream media to report on the plight of Black African students in Ukraine, who
were initially denied passage to leave the country — something the media initially failed to do
(Xiaoyi, 2022). In an interview with The Amsterdam News, a weekly Black-owned newspaper in
the US, one of the activists, Damilare Arah, a UK-based tech designer said: “I’m a volunteer from
London. So, on Thursday and Friday, I tried my best to understand the situation fully and to see
how best I fit into all of this. And then Saturday I heard…I was just trying to get to grips with
understanding how all of this would affect Africa and the businesses and the economies and other
things, because I was hearing reports that there’s massive oil wells that Putin might want
underneath Ukraine, in the area of Donbass. But that’s when one of my mentors told me that there’s
Africans in Ukraine.”
24
Arah added: “I heard that Africans were being racially profiled, abused and being pushed
back in queues for the sake of other Europeans. So, from then I kicked into a crisis management
mode. I know that many people didn’t know that there were Africans in Ukraine so the first thing
I had to do was get everybody to know and understand their situation,” (Carrillo, 2022).
Similarly, Chibuzor Rosemary Onwugbonu (@ChyLady) — a UK-based product manager
in technology, and current Welfare Officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) Europe
— told me in the interview that she got involved because: “There were just a lot of cries for help.
…So, the [NIDO] chapter in Poland, the Hungary chapter, we all got on Twitter space to speak to
people. And then, in the end, we just had to create Telegram groups…because there was really so
much that we could do on the Twitter space. But the great thing was there was a sense of
community that came together just by us being able to have these conversations…It was a rescue
mission in the end.” (C, R. Onwugbonu, personal communication, Nov. 27, 2022).
The drive to save African students and professionals was the motivating factor here - by
extension, all Nigerians in Ukraine are by default classified as Nigerians in Diaspora, whether or
not they are registered members NIDO. Overall, the steps taken by both students and volunteers
led to positive outcome.
RQ2: How effective were mobile phones in the dissemination of their stories?
FQ2: The #AfricansinUkraine campaign was so effective that the Western news media,
which initially ignored the stories, started broadcasting them. Below is a table of 10 select news
outlets that carried stories using the hashtag. The stories ran within the first week of the war. The
first stories carrying the hashtag came on Feb. 27, 2022, and were mainly by African and Indian
media who had their students experiencing discrimination. Western media started their coverage
of the hashtag story on the fourth day.
25
Table 3:
News reports carrying #AfricansinUkraine in response to Black witnessing

Outlet Headline Link
Publication
Date
Twitter Handle
Quoted
Reach on
Twitter
Newsweek
Black
Immigrants
Report Racist
Treatment As
They Try to
Flee Ukraine
https://www.newsw
eek.com/black-
immigrants-report-
racist-treatment-
flee-ukraine-
1683216
Feb. 28, 2022
@Nzekiev
@Brayson53233
089
@DamilareArah
3.5M
Followers
BBC
Ukraine
conflict: Nigeria
condemns
treatment of
Africans
https://www.bbc.co
m/news/world-
africa-60555650
Feb. 28, 2022 @DamilareArah
39.6M
Followers
Quartz
Africans in
Ukraine say
they’re stranded
https://qz.com/afric
a/2134765/africans-
in-ukraine-say-
theyre-stranded
Feb. 28, 2022
@DamilareArah
@Nzekiev

374.7K
Followers
Revolt TV
#AfricansinUkr
aine sheds light
on mistreatment
of Africans in
Ukraine
https://www.revolt.
tv/article/2022-02-
27/154519/africansi
nukraine-sheds-
light-on-
mistreatment-of-
africans-in-ukraine/
Feb. 27, 2022
@DamilareArah
@stephhegarty
344.3K
Followers
Morocco
World News
AU Calls out
Racist
Treatment of
Africans
Fleeing Ukraine
https://www.moroc
coworldnews.com/
2022/03/347355/au
-calls-out-racist-
treatment-of-
africans-fleeing-
ukraine
March 1,
2022
@DamilareArah

26.6K
Followers
Nigerian
Eye
Russia-Ukraine
war: We’re not
turning Africans
away from our
borders, says
Poland
https://www.nigeria
neye.com/2022/02/
russia-ukraine-war-
were-not-
turning.html
Feb. 28, 2022
@Nzekiev

8,691
Followers
26
Outlet Headline Link
Publication
Date
Twitter Handle
Quoted
Reach on
Twitter
Opindia
After Indian
students,
Africans face
racial
discrimination
in Ukraine,
allege that they
are not being
allowed to cross
the borders
https://www.opindi
a.com/2022/02/afri
cans-say-they-are-
facing-racial-
discrimination-in-
ukraine/
Feb. 27, 2022
@Nzekiev
@DamilareArah
625.7K
Followers
Africa News
Russia-Ukraine
conflict:
Africans face
racial
discrimination
in Ukraine
https://www.african
ews.com/2022/02/2
8/russia-ukraine-
conflict-africans-
face-racial-
discrimination-in-
ukraine//
Feb. 28, 2022 @DamilareArah
69K
Followers
BET
Thousands Of
African
Students
Trapped In
Ukraine
https://www.bet.co
m/article/e7175o/af
rican-students-
trapped-ukraine
Feb. 27, 2022 @DamilareArah
2.7M
Followers
KNX News
97.1 FM
‘Blacks were
not allowed’:
Nigeria
condemns
reports of
Africans left
stranded fleeing
Ukraine
https://www.audac
y.com/knxnews/ne
ws/world/nigeria-
condemns-reports-
of-africans-
stranded-in-ukraine
Feb. 28, 2022
@abel_amene
@isidney75
@DamilareArah
65.8K
Followers

Official Reactions to #AfricansinUkraine
Beyond resetting the global news agenda, the African students’ and volunteers' tweets
attracted the attention of notable people around the world. Just like the #BringBackOurGirls and
the #EndSARS campaigns before it, the #AfricansinUkraine hashtag and accompanying media
stories attracted worldwide criticism of the acts of discrimination. Once the Black witnesses’
27
footage from Ukraine went viral, African governments faulted the acts (Ly & Princewill, 2022).
They also took action by issuing specific information and instruction to their citizens on where to
find assistance ahead of evacuation home (Onukwue, 2022).
One of the early responses was by President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, who said,
“All who flee a conflict situation have the same right to safe passage under the UN convention
and the color of their passport or their skin should make no difference” (Akinwotu &
Strzyżyńska, 2022).
Nigeria also took diplomatic steps to address the discrimination against its citizens by
engaging countries neighboring Ukraine. The then Director Consular and Legal Department,
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Akinremi Bolaji (personal communication
Dec. 15, 2022) explained the steps taken with Poland, …. we vowed to intervene with the Polish
government when we heard of discrimination about those that were allowed to come in into
Poland….. their response was that they were not the ones stopping people, but the Ukrainian
soldiers…. who didn't want people to leave, or they tried to allow women first…. we got
assurances from the Polish authority…. of course, you know, they will deny it, but the truth here
is that you have sounded a note of warning. And because of that, I think they cooperated……
You've seen that the president of Poland has been here. He was supposed to be here when that
war broke out…. just 15 days to his coming, was when the war broke out. And we have to put
that off, particularly because of what was trending at that time. But eventually, when the coast
became clear, the state visit took place.
In Nigeria, there was also a coordination mechanism for parents. Through its agency,
Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), the Nigerian government created a WhatsApp
Group, where they provided a daily briefing about their children’s welfare. “We have very active
28
social media platforms and networks, specifically, Twitter, and WhatsApp. And of course, we
have a very active website that is always ready to get complaints and other things…. The
Nigerians in Diaspora Commission has always been an SOS platform for all Nigerians who find
themselves in situations outside the country,” (Terab, 2022).
In solidarity, celebrities worldwide also used their social media handles to post on the
plight of the Black students attempting to flee the war in Ukraine. Among them were Formula
One star Lewis Hamilton; The BeyGood charity run by American singer Beyonce; Hollywood
film director Ava DuVernay; and civil rights pioneer Jesse Jackson.
RQ3: How did the students use Twitter and WhatsApp to spread the news?
FQ3:The activists and students used Twitter to send out messages in the form of text,
pictures, videos, and also hold Twitter spaces.
Damilare Arah@Damilare, Nze @Nzekiev, Chibuzor Rosemary Onwugbonu
(@ChyLady and Bayero Abduljaleel Adam @jaleelbayero were the most active participants in
the #AfricansinUkraine campaign. Bayero Abduljaleel Adam (@jaleelbayero), a third-year
medical student at Ternopil National Medical University, was a representative of both Nigerian
and African students studying in Ukraine. He told me in an interview that he started a daily
Twitter space where he met other students for up to an hour, to follow up on individual
developments. He recalled: “You'd have students basically from every [neighboring] country tell
us about the experience there, what is going on in the country, and the process [of entry] there.”
Adam added: “… We basically had to be sorting ourselves out. Some students went to Hungary.
Hungary was a bit more lenient, compared to Poland, [where] students who went there were
given, I think, three months permit instantly. Some of them were admitted as guest students in
some universities for a period of time. For instance, those who moved to Germany said the
29
country has a lot of bureaucracy. You have cities that do accept our students, but some do not.”

Chart 1
Response from 10 Nigerian students who escaped the war in Ukraine

Chart 2
5 Non-student Nigerians interviewed on #AfricansinUkraine

30
Conclusion
The story behind #AfricansinUkraine campaign represented one of the unfortunate stories
of Black people being discriminated against because of their skin color. It brought home the fact
that even beyond a war situation discrimination would still be seen.
The sustained efforts of the students and activists in bearing witness and undertaking
hashtag activism using #AfricansinUkraine assisted in reaching global audiences, including the
mainstream media, which initially did not report on the plight of Black students at the Ukrainian
border. Consistency in sending out the #AfricansinUkraine messages by students, activists, and
the mainstream media, resulted in forcing Ukrainian authorities and their security agents to open
the borders for Black students to leave the country. It also sped up the clearing process in borders
where Black students were unnecessarily being delayed.
Shortcomings of the Study
The goal of this study is to make sense of the experiences of African students and
volunteers involved in Black witnessing and hashtag activism in Ukraine. But in the course of this
study, I focused on Nigerians, bearing in mind the size of the student body from that country, as
well as Twitter activities and media coverage which was dominated by them. Other Black Africans
affected who experienced the same discrimination were kept out of this study. Secondly, in the
course of my study, poor network and limited internet connectivity in Nigeria hampered my ability
to reach some of the student returnees.
Suggested Areas of Future Study
Further study on #AfricansinUkraine is needed to shed more light on Black witnessing and
hashtag activism that occurred during the war in Ukraine. Researchers can further look at various
31
elements including videos, audio, pictures, twitter space sessions or memes posted on Twitter by
Black witnesses stretching beyond the first seven days covered in this study.
Researchers can also study other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram,
WhatsApp and Telegram used by the Black witnesses in sharing information about the racism they
faced and the hashtag.
Another area of study to explore is where some students had to go back to Ukraine to
continue their studies despite the fact that the war is still ongoing, the reason being that Ukrainian
universities did not issue them transcripts to transfer to other institutions.

32
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Creator Kure, Iliya Molambore (author)

Core Title #AfricansinUkraine: an analysis of Black witnessing and hashtag activism at the borders of war

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 04/26/2023

Defense Date 04/21/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag #AfricansinUkraine,Black witnessing,citizen journalism,hashtag activism,OAI-PMH Harvest,smartphones,social media

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Richardson, Allissa V. (committee chair), Kahn, Gabriel (committee member), Pecot-Hebert, Lisa (committee member)

Creator Email iliyakure@gmail.com,kure@usc.edu

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