This month we interviewed Med Diagne (he/they), Corporate Accountability’s membership organizer, who spends their days connecting with people who want to be a part of building a world where people can live freely of corporate abuse. Med is also a member of the Black Collective, a team of Black staff that connects corporate power with system racism, is tackling issues from reparations to the school-to-prison pipeline. We talked about the joy they get out of directly challenging corporations, and the importance of collective action.
What motivated you to take on your role at Corporate Accountability?
I love being the thorn in a corporation’s backside and taking an action that could change the way that it’s allowed to operate. And at Corporate Accountability, we are challenging corporate power by throwing a wrench in the capitalist, colonialist machinery and building a better world for everyone. That’s so exciting to me.
What connects you to Corporate Accountability’s campaigns?
I watched many nature documentaries at a young age, which gave me a deep appreciation for the environment. As I got older, I realized that corporations are a central source of abuse to the planet. And living in New Orleans, I see the impact of corporate abuse and control all the time: from the economic dominance of the fossil fuel industry to the constant threat of dangerous weather events, exacerbated by climate change. I can’t even grow any food outside of my home because of potential exposure to dangerous chemicals from refineries contaminating the soil. That has a direct impact on the ways that I can connect with the planet.
What is your role in creating social change?
I see my role as winning people over to the movement of challenging corporate abuse. What we’re doing together is the antithesis of what corporations want, which is to divide us and trick us into only caring about ourselves. My job is to meet people where they are and invite them to be a part of this movement.
I also hope to educate people on the layers of corporate abuse, help them see beyond the obvious signs of it, and to understand its impacts globally. For example, plastic pollution: many people know that corporations produce waste that clogs our waterways and hurts our environment. But where I grew up in the Global South, mostly on the African continent where bottled water was what I drank, that was the primary source of safe water that I had access to. So, the issue goes beyond stopping corporations from producing plastic bottles that clog waterways. It’s also about addressing the corporate control of water globally, and so much more. Our organizing is more meaningful when it reflects the complexity of the issue, and centers on the experiences of communities on the frontlines of corporate abuse.
What have you found most gratifying about being the membership organizer?
A few weeks ago, I spoke with a woman on the phone who was worried about and overwhelmed by the state of the world. We got to talk about her very real concerns. And then we talked about all the progress that we’re making as an organization and movement, and about the many people that are building power together. By the time we hung up the phone she sounded a lot more hopeful—and motivated—to keep going.
I love connecting with other people who share my values and want to make an impact. I get to move people to take action and remind them that we are part of a great, powerful whole.
You are also a member of the Black Collective. What has that work been like?
I was so excited to join the Black Collective. There is a huge opportunity in taking on corporate power and systemic racism as two tightly connected pillars. Currently, I’m exploring ways that transnational corporations, many of which have direct ties to slavery, can be made to pay reparations to the Black communities that they’ve historically harmed.
What is giving you hope right now?
In all this darkness, there are constant displays of solidarity and interconnectedness. People are active right now. They are demanding an end to Israel’s violent attacks and genocide against Palestine through campus protests and they are calling for real solutions to the climate crisis. We know what’s at stake, and we are not giving up.
This interview was originally published in December 2024 the Spotlight Newsletter.
