Image via Complex Original
It’s becoming harder and harder to stay silent about the violence and racism in America today. In the wake of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille, the #BlackLivesMatter movement is at the forefront of the fight for justice. It’s times like these, when the black community is at its most vulnerable, that we need those with influence to speak up and show their support for what is right. Celebrities—shout out to Jesse Williams—are in a perfect position to speak out since they have a built-in platform and thousands, if not millions, of listeners. But celebrities are people too—they have differing opinions, varying levels of privilege, and they don't always advocate in the direction we want them to.
Enter #AllLivesMatter. This hashtag asks: why just one race? Isn’t singling out races part of the problem? We should all matter. While that might sound noble, it misses the point. There is a difference between focus and exclusion, and the aggressive retort that All Lives Matter ignores the racial injustices in America out of which Black Lives Matter was born. The BLM movement grew out of the context of seeing members of the black community murdered by law enforcement, escalating evidence in a culture that those lives are less important. Therefore, it is essential that we reinforce that, yes, black lives do matter. What BLM doesn't do is exclude, it actually corrects an inequality, and the rejection of that message does not result in inclusion—like the proprietors of the #AllLivesMatter hashtag insist—it only furthers the divide. Still, there are some celebrities who don’t totally see it that way. Here are the ones who are the most vocal on #AllLivesMatter.
Nia Long
Raven-Symoné
Prince Jackson
Stacey Dash
Columbus Short
Dexter Darden
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jesse Fangs
Piers Morgan
Kevin Gates
Jess Glyne
Donovan McNabb
Raquel Castro
Chris Brown
"#alllifematters everyone needs someone’s help. I’m not perfect and have done my fair share of wrongs. And that’s why I speak for the weak… You can be whatever you wanna be. And don’t let the fear from others make you question or doubt your inner light. Ok I’m done.” (Twitter, Nov. 2015)
RZA
"All lives matter. I stopped eating meat because their lives matter to me. I don’t think it’s necessary for us to grow a cow to kill it." (Bloomberg, Jan. 2016)
Keke Palmer
Donald Trump
"A lot of people agree with that. A lot of people feel that it is inherently racist. And it's a very divisive term," he said. "Because all lives matter. It's a very, very divisive term."—in an Associated Press interview.