Since the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, suffocating him in broad daylight with several bystanders, the entire world has come together to demand justice and systemic change.
As thousands of people around the world come together to protest, many celebrities have been speaking out on social media and marching — trying their best to use their influence to help set a precedent, including pop singer, Halsey .
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We are currently watching history unfold in front of our very eyes. Not only are we living through a pandemic, but through a revolution as well.
While there have been far too many examples of police officers needlessly killing black people, the murder of George Floyd last week has triggered a — not only American — but global movement .
While it’s absolutely mortifying to think that in the year 2020 people are still having to fight for equal rights, something that should be a given, it has been powerful to watch everyone — celebrities included — come together and demand long overdue change.
One celebrity, in particular, that has been vocal in the pursuit of justice and equality for black lives, is Halsey.
This week, thousands of people have bravely taken to the streets of Los Angeles to march and protest the death of George Floyd, including the singer.
She put her money where her mouth is.
Instead of simply tweeting her outrage, she has been standing with the people.
However, her online presence on this issue has also been quite profound.
“Man [expletive] every single person with a platform who is choosing to be silent. idc. [expletive] all of them. you have a platform. you have seen that a man was murdered. you don’t care,” she tweeted last week.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. After actually attending the protests, she made sure to give her followers insight on what is really happening — not just what the news is choosing to share.
“If you are not black, you couldn’t possibly understand the grief, fear and anger of black people right now,” she tweeted .
“Don’t condem folks expressing their outrage. don’t tweet ‘what you would do’ if it were you. because it’s not you. it never has been you. you don’t know. #BlackLivesMatter”.
“It’s not black peoples’ job to educate you on how to not be a [expletive] racist,” she wrote in another tweet .
“Be a [expletive] grown up and a decent human being and let people focus their energy on their community not on babying you. holy [expletive].”
She assured fans that she was not arrested for protesting, but that many people were as well as shot with rubber bullets, gassed, and antagonized.
This was all for peacefully protesting, which is well within their right.
“I WAS NOT ARRESTED. Im safe. There were ppl I had to get to safety as many of them have VISAs,” she wrote.
“Myself + many of my peers were shot, gassed + antagonized. The frontline was calm + did not provoke BUT MANY ARE NOT SAFE + MANY ARE IN CUSTODY “.
“A true patriot is someone who will rebel against the government if it becomes necessary, to protect the greater good of their fellow citizens.”
“We are patriots. If you are not, you are a coward. THIS is what democracy looks like.”
She even explained the severity of rubber bullets, for those who don’t know just how damaging they can be.
“Do not underplay these rubber bullets bc you have been told they are ‘not lethal’. I had to bandage a man who looked like his entire face had exploded today,” she tweeted after attending a march.
“So before you say, from the comfort of your home, that we’re exaggerating, please consider the injuries some have suffered,” she added.
Anyhow, amid all of this , there were fans who spotted Halsey in the crowd and wanted to take a selfie with her.
I cannot stress this enough. Now is not the time to be taking selfies with celebrities that you spot at these protests. Or taking selfies at all, really…?
Read the room, people.
Halsey made sure to address this right away, kindly stating that she will not be taking any photos with fans right now, as there are far more important things going on.
She let fans know that she will not be saying yes to anyone who wants to take a photo with her, and announced that she doesn’t even want to be asked — understandably.
Selfies are insignificant right now compared to the larger things that are going on in the world, and thankfully, she understands that!
Fans quickly supported Halsey’s tweet, letting people know that they shouldn’t be attending these protests just to run into celebrities. This isn’t a “meet and greet”.
Taking selfies at all right now seems completely inappropriate — let alone at a protest for someone who was unjustifiably killed.
Thank you to Halsey for using her platform and her voice to make a difference, and participating in the marches.
If everybody works together on the right side of history, we can make a difference!
