Lizzo Makes a Plea to “Stay Educated and Stay Outraged” About Injustice and Gun Violence
Lizzo #Lizzo
Lizzo has had enough. In an impassioned Instagram video thinly veiled as a GRWM tutorial on April 11, the “Special” singer made a plea for fans to take action amid ongoing sociopolitical issues impacting marginalized groups. Namely, Lizzo pointed to racism, homophobia, classism, and gun violence as leading topics of discussion that require urgent attention. In the face of these contentious matters, she’s wasting no time in mobilizing as many people as she can.
“Everybody should be in this together.”
“Living in this country can be extremely emotionally traumatizing because it feels like we’re always being pulled from one extreme to the next,” she said as she applied her makeup. “On one end, you know, I love where I live; I love where I’m from; and, for the most part, I love my country. But then we see what this country is built on and how its policies don’t reflect the freedom or the rights for every citizen. Aka, living in America is realizing that this country is filled with racism, xenophobia, homophobia, classism, all the -isms you can think of that marginalize most people. And there is a lot of white supremacy.”
In an effort to combat these issues, Lizzo reminded viewers that the First Amendment gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and the right to protest. “We have the right to do it,” she said. “If you’re from an older generation or a marginalized group, you have seen how protest goes down in this country. Whether it be the Suffragettes or the civil rights movement or Stonewall, protest has been at the heart of every social change.”
Citing a recent example, Lizzo pointed to the ongoing protests in Tennessee concerning gun control. These demonstrations began in response to a shooting at a school in Nashville, TN on March 27 that resulted in the death of three children and three adults. The massacre is one of over 150 shootings in the US this year. These numbers have resulted in the growing statistic that firearms are the leading cause of death of children in the United States, per NPR.
As a result of injustices like these, Lizzo has been more vocal in recent months about using her platform to advocate for change. In a series of tweets posted on March 8, she voiced her thoughts on the correlation between racism and transphobia. “Transphobia is lookin real rooted in racism right about now . . .” she wrote in one tweet. In another tweet, she added, “I’ve never heard a person say why they’re racist . . . Or fatphobic.. I’ve never heard a reason why someone is transphobic.. I think if we knew ‘why’ these people felt this way there would way less support for these ideals. Because the ‘why’ is more insidious than we realize.”
In her Instagram video, Lizzo went on to say that, as long as these issues remain, it’s important to maintain a fresh sense of urgency. “Even if you don’t know where to begin, it’s important to stay educated and stay outraged,” she said. Lizzo also pointed out that the fight for justice is not a generational struggle. “Waiting for the next generation to do the work is what got us here in the first place,” she added. “Everybody should be in this together. Everyone should care about human rights.”
Lizzo ended her speech on a hopeful note, asking viewers to remain focused and make their voices heard. “The days of being shocked by injustices or racism in this country are over,” she said. “We need to retire the ‘but it’s 2023’ phrase; this is just what it is. There are few times as an American that I’m hopeful for the future, and right now, I have hope. Your rights matter and your voice matters so use it. Stay active.”