You may know Janelle Monáe as a singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur, but more pronounced recently, is her activism. In her cover story for the September issue of Shape Magazine—featuring strong women, she explores strength in a time of racial divide and a global pandemic.
George Floyd’s killing at the hand of Minneapolis police officers indeed marked a turning point for this year that even the pandemic cannot compare to. For 34-year-old Janelle, it’s so personal. Hollywood news today.
“Being Black, especially during this time, for me, is heavy. It’s traumatic, and all I want to do is figure out how I can be of help to my community,” she said.
This desire for change pushed the Yoga singer to create platforms to strengthen the necessary conversations. One of these conversations was a Zoom meeting with her peers in her company, Wondaland Art Society. Hollywood news today.
“We hosted a Zoom where everybody had an opportunity to get on and just vent and cry and talk about how we’re feeling. These were white folks, Asian folks, Black folks, straight, gay—like a full spectrum of people and perspectives,” she told Farai Chideya who interviewed her for the Shape cover story.
Besides most of her in-house creative team created the stunning cover photo. Janelle took out time to outline the ways she has incorporated her activism for the Black Lives Matter movement into the various spheres of her life. You should take notes, there’s a lot to learn here. Hollywood news today.
Here are 3 ways Janelle Monáe is actively an activist…
#1. She reads to educate and inspire herself
For Janelle, it is important now more than ever that she is properly educated on issues prevalent in her community. In this pandemic, she has been immersed in authors like James Baldwin, Sonya Renee-Taylor, Kimberly Latrice Jones, Tamika Mallory, and the women who founded the Black Lives Matter movement. That indeed is a long list of mostly strong black women who sure inspire us all. Entertainment news today.
#2. Her company Wondaland does whatever
As in everything! That includes film, TV, music, branding, activism and before the pandemic, in-person events. This means that Janelle can infuse activism into her arts seamlessly while receiving support from a community of like-minds.
#3. Her movies and music purposely contain pro-black messages
This is what she did for her upcoming movie, Antebellum. Speaking on this, Janelle Monáe said, “One of the things I’ve made a conscious effort to do, specifically with Antebellum, is to shed light on racial injustice.” The movie is set for release later this year, in September.
She will play the civil rights activist, Dorothy Pitman Hughes in The Glorias, the forthcoming biopic of feminist trailblazer Gloria Steinem.
Read the full interview here. Entertainment news today.
Photo Credit: Shape Magazine | Dana Scruggs
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