The Importance of Harry Styles Showing Solidarity with his POC fans
As we are all well aware, Harry Styles fan-base has been talking about the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement among the fandom, especially those who fall under the Black Umbrella within the movement.
I am an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, my people are the traditional owners of Australia and for years my ancestors fought long and hard to allow me to live the life I live. I am fortunate and lucky, and I acknowledge that and what my Elders and ancestors had to fight for to allow me to live this life, as I said. I am also a massive Harry Styles fan and have been since Year 8 in high-school, I am currently 20.Â
Harry has been my favourite member of One Direction, he has been someone I have loved and supported for a long, long time and just because I love that man, doesnât mean I wonât hesitate to call him out and educate him about whatâs happening and why his actions affect his POC fan-base.I had been so far up his arse, disregarding his actions but as I got older and started to realise the injustices and the issues surrounding, not only my people but other minority groups I came to realise how problematic he could be. Heâs human though, we all are and weâre all bound to make mistakes and as human beings - we donât know everything.
Harry doesnât know everything and thatâs okay. He doesnât have to know everything.Â
Harry doesnât have to make his platform âpoliticalâ but let me tell you the Black Lives Matter movement isnât political, neither is the LGBTQ+ community and everything they are. Society makes these communities and movements political because theyâre not predominantly White, that they empower and encourage oppressed, discriminated and racial profiled minorities to say âWell hey, no, I have a right to feel safe, to live life and be happy as much as a White personâ.
Harry doesnât need to voice his opinions and be as active as he is, but he needs to acknowledge it and at least communicate with his POC fan-base, that he knows their injustices theyâre dealing with. He needs to let them know he acknowledges them and their struggles and itâs the smallest things from an Instagram post, to a bracelet or even a T-Shirt that make the difference.
As a woman of colour, and as a Indigenous Australian it is so empowering to see non-Indigenous people acknowledging my people exist when they visit Australia. That is makes me feel like Iâm worth something, that I fucking matter when my country and government ignore the struggles we face and continue to live their lives whilst my people suffer. It makes me feel stronger as a person.
Ed Sheeran wore an Aboriginal flag t-shirt to one of his concerts in Australia and that left me in tears. It made me feel a sense of pride, a sense of empowerment and happiness that this man, who may have never heard or known about the First Nations people of Australia had chosen to wear a shirt.Â
Same with Kehlani, who I personally saw live in August this year. She walked out on stage and the joy, the emotions that swirled through my body, engulfed me before I broke down in tears of joy. I remember posting on my personal account, how happy I felt. That this woman, from another country who may not have heard about my people until recently, wore a fucking flag shirt as well. I was shaking and crying, saying âSheâs wearing my flagâ.
Itâs the littlest things.
Harry posted a photo of his concert, with fans holding Black Lives Matter signs up - that matters. Thatâs important and that empowers young fans. It makes them feel like, they matter to Harry. It makes them feel as if they are worth it, they are important and their life matters as much as anyone else.
^ This photo - it matters a lot more to Black people, Black people of colour and people of colour. It matters to us, because we feel as if someone we idolise and love, knows we exist and acknowledges that weâre struggling and weâre fighting each day to the same common goal.Â
I love Harry so much and cannot express how happy this made me feel. It might not be him waving a flag around, wearing a flag t-shirt, but the littlest things count. They affect people and make the biggest difference to an individual.Â
Yeah, some of us might not need the validation and love from Harry - but thereâs a vulnerable person of colour, who feels the weight of society, their own issues on their shoulders and feeling low in their self-esteem and low in who they are as a person, but when they see someone they care about and support do something as little as what I listed earlier, as I have stated it makes the fucking difference.Â
People donât get it. They donât get how important it all is.Â
Weâre not bashing Harry, weâre not calling him a racist because we know heâs far from it. Weâre not hating him, weâre bringing awareness to his actions and creating safe spaces at his concert for BPOC, Black People and People of colour because his fan-base is diverse. Weâre not trying to ruin him or paint him a villain, because heâs not.
Itâs okay to educate people you support and pull them up on things they havenât said or have said. Open heart and open mind you guys - weâre human and we learn from each other. Thatâs part of our journey is to learn from one another.Â
If you have read this whole post - thank you so much. Iâm sorry if I didnât make sense, itâs really late. Itâs 2:38am, Iâm tired but I really wanted to talk about this.Â
