Demi's Lovato's social media pages have taken a turn amid the Black Lives Matter protests, and she's fully aware of it. In a new essay for Vogue, published on Wednesday, the 28-year-old singer shines a light on her newfound activism and year of growth amid the fight against racial injustice as well as the ongoing pandemic.
"As I reflect on all that has happened over 2020, it feels like we’re experiencing a moment of change. There has never been a more crucial time to spread awareness about issues that matter. And it’s not just mental health," Lovato pens, before touching on how she's using her platform to raise awareness for causes that are important to her.
"My relationship with social media before lockdown was very typical. If you scroll down my feed, it was mainly all glamour shots and pictures of me looking cute and fancy. But then there’s this sudden shift around the time Ahmaud Arbery was killed. Now my feed is filled with information about racial injustice and what we can do to help," she explains. "I’ve always taken my advocacy work seriously, but now I’m looking at it with renewed focus."
Lovato shares that she was motivated by wanting to know how much of herself and her career comes from Black culture. Listening to Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and "other soulful singers" shaped her into the vocalist that she is today.
"If you look at my life, everything that I have -- money, success, a roof over my head -- it’s because of the inspiration those Black women gave me. I continue to be constantly inspired by people of color today," she notes. "I realized this was a lightning bolt jolting through my body, where I was reminded of my privilege. I felt an overwhelming responsibility to help spread awareness about this injustice, so I began posting things that I thought would educate people."
She goes on to state that she's been researching and learning so much about how to be an ally, and that above all else, people have to "be willing to protect people at all costs."
"You have to step in if you see something happening that’s not right: a racist act, a racist comment, a racist joke. And it’s not just with Black Lives Matter. It’s also with the Me Too movement. Finally, the world is waking up and it’s beautiful to witness," she expresses.
While she admits to still not having or knowing all the answers, Lovato says that what she does know is that "inclusivity is important."
"Creating environments where women, people of color and trans people feel safe is important. Not just safe, but equal to their cis, white, male counterparts. People need to feel like they can enter a space and know they’re not going to be sexually harassed or underpaid. The music industry needs to pay attention," she relays. "In fact, the entire entertainment industry needs to pay attention."
And though Lovato has experienced many highs and lows this year, she also reflects on the many things she's learned from her "whirlwind romance" with her fiancé, Max Ehrich -- "who is so positive" -- her father's death and how she had a "beautiful release of all the resentments" she had towards him.
"In short, 2020 has been a year of growth. Moving forward, I want to put my energy into my music and my advocacy work. I want to continue to strive to be a better person. I want to inspire people in many different ways to do the same," she states. "Above all, I want to leave the world a better place than when I got here. There are a lot of things that need to be done before that, but together I believe we can make it happen. You just need to be a little bit hopeful."
For more on Lovato, see below.
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