Dear Gossips, 

Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi because Trayvon Martin was murdered but justice was not served. Today is Blackout Tuesday, an initiative conceived by Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, two Black women in music, calling for the music industry to “take a beat for an honest, reflective, and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community”. At #TheShowMustBePaused, Brianna and Jamila write that: 

 

“The music industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. An industry that has profited predominantly from Black art. Our mission is to hold the industry at large, including major corporations + their partners who benefit from the efforts, struggles and successes of black people accountable. To that end it is the obligation of these entities to protect and empower at the Black communities that have made them disproportionately wealthy in ways that are measurable and transparent.”

Please visit the website for suggestions on what you can do today to help, including where you can contribute if you are able, and also a list of resources to better inform yourself about anti-Black racism and how to be an effective ally. As Brianna and Jamila have said, this is not a one-day thing. This will be an ongoing effort for the long haul, just one part of the larger movement seeking justice and equality. So, once again, Black women are leading the way and doing the work. 

Here’s a message from Lizzo if you are posting in support of #TheShowMustBePaused: 

 

Lizzo moved to Minneapolis in 2011 and lived there for five years. She told Rolling Stone a couple of years ago that: 

“It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. It changed my life.”

Over the last few days, Lizzo has been sharing her heartbreak and anger over the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. 

What Lizzo and so many others have been trying to tell us, for too long, is that we should feel the urgency for change as much as they do. And if we don’t, if we are able to look away, we might want to ask ourselves why we have that comfort and privilege in a time of Black pain – and what we’re going to do with it. 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey