Editorial: Dorian do's and don'ts

Hurricane Dorian is making its way up the east coast toward North Carolina, expected to make its pass by the Outer Banks by around Friday evening. In response, the internet has been doing what the internet always does — making a meme of it. 

Y’all know we love to joke about the weather in our QuickHits and kvetches, and we appreciate a good meme as much as the next editorial board. However, this storm, unlike the humidity that we love to complain about, is deadly. 

That said, we’d like to offer this list of the do's and don’ts of Dorian.

Don’t

Don’t just make a meme. Storms like these actually impact people’s lives. So if you’re going to make a meme, we recommend that you follow up by actually supporting the affected communities. 

Don’t deny climate change. It’s real y’all. That’s it.

Don’t forget that you’ve probably vacationed in the Bahamas or coastal cities in the U.S., and have enjoyed the benefits of these places without paying more than the cost of your accommodations. If you enjoy spending time in these places when they’re warm and sunny, you should be willing to support them after a storm, too. 

Do

Post that meme with a donation link. Make sure your followers and friends can easily support the communities being impacted by Dorian. There are a lot of ways to help out, and most don’t require anything more than a Google search.

For example, it took about five minutes of research to find these organizations that are already working on disaster relief: the City of Miami's donation drive, The Smile Trust's Hurricane Dorian Relief Fund and the World Central Kitchen disaster-relief team, which is working to feed Bahamians. You could also give to the Bahamas Red Cross Society.

Keep rural North Carolina communities in mind and be prepared to support them, too. Eastern N.C. is home to some of the most concentrated, intergenerational poverty in the state. These communities are the most likely to be hit by Dorian. Let’s not let our place in a relatively-wealthy and urban part of the state allow us to forget about our neighbors to the east. 

As the hyper-connected internet community that we have become, these do’s and don’ts apply to almost any context in which we use social media to meme, or as a platform for advocacy. 

Whether in response to Dorian or fire relief in the Amazon, our tendency to meme or feel self-satisfied by posting an Instagram story about a disaster in another part of the world simply isn't enough. We have the capacity, and therefore the obligation, to do more to bring attention and resources to these communities. 

In short, we encourage you to put your money where your meme is.