Lil Nas X thinks Blackout Tuesday was the “worst idea ever”.
The 21-year-old rapper has hit out at the concept – which saw celebrities, corporations, music labels and sports stars show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement by refusing to post on social media – and Lil Nas has instead insisted now is the time to speak out as loudly as possible about racial discrimination.
He wrote on Twitter: “i know y’all mean well but… bro saying stop posting for a day is the worst idea ever
“i just really think this is the time to push as hard as ever. i don’t think the movement has ever been this powerful. we don’t need to slow it down by posting nothing. we need to spread info and be as loud as ever.”
Blackout Tuesday (02.06.20) saw various music stars post black images on their social media channels.
But the rap star has proposed another way to make a stance.
By contrast, Rihanna recently pledged her support to the Blackout Tuesday movement.
The 32-year-old star took to her Instagram account to announce that her Fenty fashion and beauty brands wouldn’t be doing any business on Tuesday in response to George Floyd’s death last week.
Rihanna – who has more than 83 million followers on the photo-sharing platform – wrote: “we ain’t buying st!!! and we ain’t selling st neither!! gang gang! #BLACKOUTTUESDAY AF!!! @fenty @fentybeauty @savagexfenty “
Meanwhile, Lorde is “working out how to practice activism” whilst “refraining from social media” following the death of George Floyd.
The 23-year-old star was among those to attend a peaceful protest in Aukland, New Zealand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after unarmed black man George was killed in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week.
And the ‘Green Light’ hitmaker has admitted it’s vital to “strike a balance” between “self-serving social media displays and true action” as an ally to people of colour, whilst she insisted that “white silence” is “more damaging” than posting a “wack protest selfie”.
In an email to her fans, she said: “You probably weren’t expecting to hear from me for another few months, but I can’t ask for your attention one week and go silent on something like this the next.
“It’s hard to strike a balance between self-serving social media displays and true action.
“But part of being an ally is knowing when to speak and when to listen, and I know that white silence right now is more damaging than someone’s wack protest selfie.So let me be clear: this ongoing systemic brutality by police is racist, it’s sickening, and it’s unsurprising.”
