Ari Lennox Outspoken Impact 🗣👊🏾🦋❌

When You Give Black Women A Platform You Get Awareness & Accountability....

@_amandarudd

Artist Activism

Artist activism is nothing new, but 2019 artist activism looks a bit different than it did before and when you give black women a platform in 2019 be ready for the two a's, awareness & accountability. Activism comes in different forms and Ari Lennox has not took her foot off of the necks of people who she calls "filthy self-righteous and delusional". Ari has been on a roll ever since she called out Zara-London for racially profiling her back in July 2019. London is known for their very insidious racism, it may not be as rapid and flagrant as racism in America but it without a doubt exist. Navigating through life is an extreme sport for black women. Having to uphold a hard exterior combined with stoic energy is usually the formula of navigating spaces "safely". Making sure we alter our tone, not get too high or too low, and monitoring what we wear so its not oversexualized. Female artist in the industry are not exempt from that, actually some can argue that it may be heightened. Although we are in a progressive era, the "angry black women" narrative is something that is still alive and well. Like I've said before black skin is perceived as a threat in this country, and the darker the skin the higher the threat. Black women are usually not "allowed" to be emotional and expressive to the masses but that didn't stop Ari for calling Zara-London out for their terrible customer service and accusation of theft. Ari explained the horrific situation of being accused of something you never did, in front of an audience of people who do not look like you as the "worst pain". Ari is an Aries and if you know anything about Aries women, you know that they are naturally expressive people. Whether she talks about love in her music or expresses her dislike for the state of the world Ari is getting what she has to say off her chest. Although social media makes it easier for artist to express themselves, many of them are still fearful to do so because of the possible consequences of public scrutiny, label issues, and overall backlash. Luckily, Ari walks to the beat of her own drum and with the support of label Dreamville she is obviously allowed the space and reassurance to be as outspoken as she wants. For me personally it's extremely important to highlight the women who have a platform and use it to combat the ism's and intersectionality of the world. Whether its racism, sexism, or homophobia she will put you on blast. Her recent actions were bold to say the least, as she called out all of her homophobic followers and made her alliance to the LGBTQ+ community clear. The public perception of these rants can come off as an attack, but thats only if you offend someone who is actually a homophobe, racist, or sexist. Majority of her followers who have been in support of the LGBTQ+ community including myself just saw it as a moment we've been waiting for, a moment we couldn't curate ourselves yet due to the lack of a major platform. Many of us were cheering Ari on as she boldly said "don't support me if you are homophobic". With Dreamville in full support and Ari's attitude of I said what I said its beautiful to see more black women speak on everyday issues and use their platform to hold people accountable and spread awareness, even if the form of activism consist of Twitter rants to the masses. This is the result of giving black women a platform, full control, and label support. Awareness and Accountability. Ari is also blessed to have a group of amazing label-mate brothers including the visionary J-Cole in support of her expressions. Let's not forget the group of amazing black men who support and uplift Ari, and black women as she is the first lady of Dreamville. Let's give credit to our black brothers where credit is due.

@XXL

Ari made sure to mention that many of her family members are gay and she's seen them be harassed, disowned, and maligned daily. We really needed that for the culture, artist will tip toe around societal issues, especially with regard to the LGBTQ+ community; in an effort to salvage their career but when a black woman has that I don't give a f*ck attitude it says somethings. She is a voice of someone who wants to dismantle patriarchy, power dynamics, elitism, sexism, racism, capitalism and homophobia but cannot reach the masses ......YET . That someone is me, along with many other black women and women of color who has the same mission. We have to continue to be vocal about the support of the LGBTQ+ community and protect them. Black lives includes ALL BLACK PEOPLE.

Destiny.Len ✍🏾❤️