“Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it.” – @NickiMinaj
On July 21st, Nicki Minaj went to Twitter to share her disdain for her snub for MTV’s Video Music Awards Video of The Year nomination. Her tweets quickly escalated with responses from fans and most famously, Taylor Swift, who felt as though Nicki’s remarks were aimed against her. We won’t delve too much into the ‘he said she said’, but Nicki did bring up an interesting topic. In the midst of her twitter rant, she stated that “Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it.”
Her sentiments are very much in line with an array of other statements made from people like Amandla Stenberg; who made a YouTube monologue entitled, “Don’t Cash Crop On My Cornrows“, where she speaks about the appropriation of Black culture in pop culture. In the video, Sternberg also pointed out how the same artists that take cues from every day Black culture are generally no where to be found on recent social issues and racially charged incidents involving Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice.
Further expanding on the conversation, Ebony Magazine recently debuted an edgy cover for their August 2015 issue that states, “America Loves Black People Culture.” It seems as though many feel this way, but what do you think?
Do celebrities have a responsibility to get involved with political and social issues? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
– Yasmine, HOC Contributor
