Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga have a combined Instagram reach of 200 million.
Celebrities all over the world are mobilizing their legion of fans to support the cause of social justice and help boost the Black Lives Matter movement through their social media. Days after the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a former Minneapolis police officer – Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga, who have a combined Instagram reach of 200 million, made an unprecedented announcement of handing over their social media accounts to influential leaders and organizations to help amplify and give a platform to black voices and causes.
“Starting tomorrow, I’m giving over my Instagram account to each of the organizations I’ve recently donated to, in an effort to amplify their important voices,” Gaga shared on Friday. “And after I vow to regularly, in perpetuity, across all of my social media platforms, post stories, content, and otherwise lift up the voices of the countless inspiring members and groups within the Black community.” So far, Gaga has featured leaders from the organization Community Justice Action Fund, a non-profit working to end gun violence in communities of color.
Gomez wrote, “I have been struggling to know the right things to say to get the word out about this important moment in history. After thinking about how best to use my social media, I decided that we all need to hear more from Black voices. Over the next few days I will be highlighting influential leaders and giving them a chance to take over my Instagram so that they can speak directly to all of us. We all have an obligation to do better and we can start by listening with an open heart and mind.”
Gomez recently featured Alicia Garza, a co-creator of Black Lives Matter, as well as a podcaster and creator of Black Future Labs, a group working to “make Black communities powerful in politics.”
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBEAbcyAD4l/?utm_source=ig_embed
Garza, who already made her first video post on Gomez’s feed, explained the importance of police taking accountability after the killings of black people. “People are in the streets right now because black people are being murdered by police and police are not being held accountable,” she said to Gomez’s 179 million followers. “This is a big, big problem. Everybody is taught that if you do something wrong, you have to make it right. And when it comes to black folks and police, there is a dynamic where black people are being murdered — sometimes on camera, sometimes not — by police and police are not having to make it right.”
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