The 'Cool for the Summer' hitmaker recognizes her white privilege, saying she hates sharing the same skin color as the people who are accused of racial hate crimes.
- Sep 3, 2020
AceShowbiz - Demi Lovato has opened up on the effect the Black Lives Matter movement has had on her personally.
The "I Love Me" star has penned a candid open letter for Vogue magazine about the Covid-19 crisis, and in it she reflects about the Black Lives Matter protests that began in March following the killings of African-American U.S. citizens, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, at the hands of police officers.
In the essay, the Grammy nominee speaks candidly about the movement, and expresses one way in which she felt her white privilege, explaining, "I grew up listening to Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and other soulful singers, but those two Black women in particular shaped me into the vocalist I am."
"If you look at my life, everything that I have - money, success, a roof over my head - it's because of the inspiration those Black women gave me."
Demi adds she "felt an overwhelming responsibility to help spread awareness about this injustice, so I began posting things that I thought would educate people."
"At first, I was self-conscious about speaking out about these issues because I didn't want anyone to feel like it wasn't genuine," she insists. "I also felt like I wanted to call every person of colour that I knew and apologise, which I know isn't the right thing to do either. Like a lot of people, I didn't know what to do."
"All I knew was that I hated that I shared the same skin colour as the people accused of committing heinous crimes against Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many, many other Black lives," she continues.
In conclusion, the "Skyscraper" star highlights the need for "inclusivity," stating, "Creating environments where women, people of colour and trans people feel safe is important. Not just safe, but equal to their cis, white, male counterparts."
