Emma Watson is finding her voice in the din of the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement. Reportedly, Emma Watson has broken her silence after she was accused of prioritising her Instagram aesthetic over a post showing support for the movement Black Lives Matter.
Emma, took to Instagram to tell her 57.2million followers 'I stand with you' as she shared an impassioned post about how she would use her platform to tackle 'structural and institutional racism.'
Earlier, Emma joined millions around the world by posting a black square, but sparked backlash by editing it to have a white border around it. Blackout Tuesday has been a part of the Black Lives Matter movement, whuich has been joined by several celebrities, including Emma.
However, the Harry Potter actress seems to have drawn some flack. Social media reportedly entered a 24-hour blackout as people made their voices heard in the fight for equality after the senseless death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th.
At midnight, however, Emma uploaded a piece of artwork by her friend Dr. Fahamu Pecou which was called White Lies, Subtleties, Micro-Aggressions, and Other Choking Hazards.
The actress wrote: 'I was holding off posting until #blackouttuesday ended in the UK,' before sharing a poem written by Dr. Fahamu called Broken Open from Black Matter Lives.
Emma also elaborated on the action she would be taking. She said that there was so much racism, both in our past and present, that was not acknowledged nor accounted for. She added that white supremacy was one of the systems of hierarchy and dominance, of exploitation and oppression, that was tightly stitched into society. As a white person, she had benefited from this.
She went on to say that whilst we might feel that, as individuals, we're working hard internally to be anti-racist, we need to work harder externally to actively take the structural and institutional racism around us. She added that she was still learning about the many ways she unconsciously supports and upholds a system that is structurally racist.
The actrress continued by saying that over the coming days, she'll be using her bio link and Twitter to share links to resources that she has found useful for her own researching, learning, listening...
She said that she saw their anger, sadness and pain. She cannot know what this feels like for them but it doesn't mean that she would try to.
The post is sure to placate her fans who came after her for her black square post. Emma Watson has proven in the past that she is quite socially aware. And this post just shows us that she is open to learning more about the nature of social systems. We wish her well.
