Lady Gaga gives her platform to inspiring members and groups within the Black community.
Lady Gaga is to lend her Instagram account to ten advocacy organizations for racial and social justice on Friday.
These organizations, to which Gaga has also donated, will have access to communicate to Gaga’s 42 million followers. In her most recent post announcing this Instagram takeover, Gaga writes that this is an effort to “amplify their important voices.”
Starting tomorrow, I’m giving over my Instagram account to each of the organizations I’ve recently donated to, in an effort to amplify their important voices. pic.twitter.com/O9qIjJrWI9
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) June 5, 2020
“And after I vow to regularly, in perpetuity, across all of my social media platforms, post stories, content, and otherwise lift up the voices of the countless inspiring members and groups within the Black community,” she writes.
These organizations are: Community Justice Action Fund, National Lawyers Guild, Fair Fight, Black Futures Lab, Color of Change, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Campaign Zero, Black Lives Matter, and Loveland Foundation.
Does Social Media Activism Work?
Protests have erupted across the nation since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin. The civil unrest started with grievances over police brutality and the systemic racism that has led to the modern-day lynching of many Black people.
People around the world were quick to take to social media and voice their anger over the deaths of Black people by the police and white people, condemning the killing of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and more.
While social media activism has drawn criticism for being “performative,” these platforms also provide a method of sharing information and resources. In just four days, the Minneapolis Freedom Fund received $20 million, in part due to people publishing screenshots and asking for donations on social media platforms.
One of the organizations to have access to Gaga’s Instagram is CJAF, a nonprofit organization seeking to end gun violence and build power for communities of color. In response to Gaga’s announcement, Amber Goodwin, Executive Director of CJAF, said, “Lady Gaga is doing exactly what we are asking that other white privileged people with large platforms do, by actively de-centering herself, and amplifying Black voices. We hope other co-conspirators rise to these same actions at this critical time in our country.”
Gaga is not the only celebrity who plans on lending her platform; Selena Gomez, who has 178 million Instagram followers, has also announced her intention of “highlighting influential leaders” and letting them do a takeover of her Instagram.