Lizzo is giving a daily reminder that it’s not up to Black people to educate everyone on racism
In light of recent protests fighting for justice for George Floyd and all victims of racial violence, Lizzo delivered a powerful, three-part address on her Instagram—and everyone needs to listen up. She says everything best, so we’ll just get right into it.
“Black people: This is your daily reminder that it is not your job to educate people on racism or white privilege,” she said. “It is exhausting and if they don’t see it or believe it by now, they don’t want to. There are Googles and there are books, and they can do that for themselves.”
From there, Lizzo addressed white people, putting an emphasis on the importance of anti-racism work.
“White people: this is your daily reminder that as long as you stay silent, you are a part of the problem,” she said. “I know you’re not racist, but you have to be more than that. You have to be anti-racist. Speak up.”
If you’re a white person reading this and don’t know where to start, spend some time with this document, which is filled with anti-racism resources for allies.
Lizzo went on to thank those who have used their voices and shown allyship and support—but she didn’t leave it at that.
“Protest is the beginning of progress, not the end of it,” she said. “And now that the protesters have everyone’s attention, what are the next steps that we’re gonna take to make sure that we’re actually moving forward and we don’t go back to this bullshit?”
She finished by urging people to keep the momentum going in the fight for racial justice. “Now is the time,” she said. “The world is standing still and waiting for action. Let’s make progress.”
A post shared by Lizzo (@lizzobeeating) on May 31, 2020 at 10:08am PDT
On Saturday, Lizzo shared an IGTV video sending her love to Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd was killed and where she lived for six years.
In the caption, she shared links for people to donate to Minnesota Freedom Fund to help bail out protesters, We Love Lake Street to help rebuild parts of the Minneapolis that were destroyed, and a petition from Black Visions Collective to sign to help defund the Minneapolis Police Department.
And most recently, she shared a reminder for all those participating in #BlackOutTuesday today.
You can caption black lives matter, but don’t hashtag pls thnx. Hashtag #blackouttuesday instead
A post shared by Lizzo (@lizzobeeating) on Jun 2, 2020 at 1:06am PDT
“Hey everybody, when you post your black square, please don’t use the hashtag ‘BlackLivesMatter’ because it is flooding the hashtag search with just black pictures instead of information,” she said. “So if you gonna post a black square, just post a black square and say it, but don’t hashtag it.” As Lizzo advises, noting to use #blackouttuesday instead.
