There was once a time when we couldn’t state both fact and opinion and receive an immediate response, whether it be positive or negative. We went from a society who found out about events, tragedies, and everything in-between days and weeks later to discovering things in real time. The emergence of social media and the ability to watch and hear news as it is happening is often both a blessing and a curse. There was once a time when we didn’t know the daily thoughts of celebrities and the things they are passionate about, but the rise of social media has changed that. Twitter is the most often used platform for celebrities to share their thoughts with their biggest fans and biggest haters.
We know their favorite cereals, costars, movies, albums, and TV shows, and now we know their stance on political and social issues. Recently, there has been a bit of a debate on whether knowing your favorite action or romantic comedy star will or won’t use the #BlackLivesMatter moniker at the end of a tweet is a good or bad thing. In the wake of the deaths of multiple people of color, Celebrities are joining the voices of protestors and activists alike. Celebrities call for social change. There are many people who believe that they should stick to their perspective fields and leave everything political and social issues out of their tweets. Singer John Legend was told just as much by IBNN News after he took to Twitter to talk about the events in Ferguson Missouri.
@IBNNNEWS human. citizen. taxpayer. i'm in my lane, homie.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 14, 2014
IBNN News said to Legend “Music…stay in you lane.” To which he replied “@IBNN News human. Citizen, taxpayer. I’m in my lane, homie.”
Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams often takes to Twitter specifically to educate his followers about systematic racism and discrimination. Williams is a former educator and attaches sources to all of his tweets. On July 22, 2015, in 24 tweets, he talked to his followers about race in regards to the police.
6 Without fail, when select Americans excercise their rights, message boards FILL w praise for the resisting citizen & mockery of police.
— jesse Williams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 22, 2015
7 An entire political party [re]constructed loudly claiming to RESIST "gov't tyranny" while actively CELEBRATING [certain] gov't tyranny!
— jesse Williams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 22, 2015
8 A select segment of Americans are granted the privilege of being able to resist said tyranny, scream at it, punch, shove or elude it.
— jesse Williams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 22, 2015
One of the most powerful and thought-provoking tweets in the batch was number 8 of 24 when he discussed that certain Americans have the right to be angry or agitated and to display those emotions saying, “A select segment of Americans are granted the privilege of being able to resist said tyranny, scream at it, punch, shove or elude it.”
Legend and Williams aren’t the only celebrities asking their followers to pay attention to these issues and create change. Reality star Kim Kardashian-West, Cara Delevigne, Jeffrey Wright, Margaret Cho, and Ava DuVernay are urging their followers to do the same in the case of Sandra Bland, a woman who was arrested under the charge of resisting arrest and was found dead days later from an alleged suicide.
Things need to change NOW #SANDRABLAND #Justice #Equality https://t.co/4KM6Utzsvs
— Cara Delevingne (@Caradelevingne) July 23, 2015
Sadly, doesn't matter by whose hand she died. Unjustified arrested set the outcome in motion. The state murdered her. #JusticeForSandraBland
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) July 24, 2015
https://twitter.com/AVAETC/status/623683526001438720
As stated earlier, the aforementioned celebrities are often asked to stay away from topics such as these and stick to their perspective fields. Asking this question brings about another: Would asking them to ignore social issues because they make some followers uncomfortable be the exact thing they are asking their followers not to do? Not to strip anyone of their rights as a human being or strip them of the right of being capable of multiple thoughts and feelings? At the end of the day, celebrities are simply people with public jobs and to ask them not to comment on these issues is to truly believe that they can only stay in one lane like Legend was asked to do.
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Photo courtesy of Twitter
