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A Famous Point of View

Throughout our childhood, we spent hours on end watching Disney Channel or

Nickelodeon, focused on who was dating who or which song our favorite character was going to

perform. However, watching TV has provided so much more for us, even if we did not know it

at the time. During commercials, we were influenced by Disney’s “Friends for Change” which

taught us to take care of our planet, or “Pass the Plate” which showed us how people lived in

different countries. These led us to appreciate the place we call home and to explore and respect

others’ cultures. Even though the messages themselves were strong, seeing popular celebrities

like the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus promote these morals, engrained them into our young

minds.

As we have grown into high school and college students or young adults, we have seen

how different celebrities take on politics through their own means. For example, Colin

Kaepernick, the former 49ers’ quarterback, has tackled the issue of gun violence and oppression

towards people of color by kneeling during the “National Anthem.” Secondly, Wade Davis,

another former NFL player, spoke out about homophobia in professional and ​amateur​ sports after

he came out as gay in 2012 (Klobuchar 215). They put their careers on the line to stand up for

what they believe in and have inspired others to do so as well. As celebrities and professional

athletes, they have found success in opening up peoples’ eyes to issues they may have never

thought of before.

From a young age, people are drawn to the unique life of celebrities and often take

inspiration from what they do. Anyone from singers to athletes to social media influencers have

a huge impact on people of all ages, especially when starting a new trend or doing something

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controversial. Many people disagree with their idols sharing their political opinion, however I

have always admired how they use their platform to spread awareness or donate profits to certain

causes. Seeing more and more icons take part in social issues led me to the question: ​How have

celebrities’ political advocacy and perspective affected activism within the younger generation?

With fame, fortune, and a large platform celebrities have the means to make a major

impact on the world, yet controversial issues and hardcore fans do not make the job easy.

Oppression and gun violence towards people of color have occurred for decades, however an

increase in media coverage, protests, and TV show episodes and songs focused on the topics,

have brought them into a new light. Many celebrities have taken initiative on spreading

awareness and standing in support for the victims and their families. Athletes are prevalent in

taking action within the Black Lives Matter Movement, and recently many have spoken out such

as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. Carmelo Anthony, a current NBA player, has mainly

shown his advocacy through Instagram, where he calls out to other athletes to show their support

for issues that people of color face daily. He explains that a solution is vital in order to end the

violence against black people, since marches, tweets, and reciprocated violence towards cops

have all failed (Reid-Cleveland). Similarly, LeBron James, another current NBA player, has

taken to social media to speak out about these pressing issues, in addition to executive-producing

“three programs focused on the intersection of sports and race: ​Shut Up and Dribble​, ​The Shop​,

and ​Student Athlete​” (Mansfield). As widely known and respected athletes, both have the power

to reach millions and educate them on these key topics. However the Black Lives Matter

Movement is not the only issue that celebrities have brought attention to.

Another set of pressing issues that half the world faces, include the debate about abortion,

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sexual assault, wage gaps, education, and breaking social norms. During my first interview with

ShiShi Rose, an avid activist from New York who worked with Women’s Marches, she

emphasized the importance of women supporting women and how strong that bond can be. The

bond between women is powerful among women of any age. Girls learn and follow their

mothers, sisters, grandmothers, teachers, or friends, as well as celebrities. Young female

celebrities, such as Yara Shahidi, a 19-year-old, activist, student, and actress followed in her

mom’s footsteps and into acting, but has found many more female role models who have helped

to guide her such as Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Beyonce, and Angela Davis (Smith).

Through her success in acting and activism, she has had the opportunity to form two

organizations: Yara’s Club, a mentorship program that teaches high school students about

different social issues and steps toward taking action, and Eighteen x ‘18, a platform that works

to educate young voters and increase turnout (Berg). Shahidi states her greatest achievement is,

“shifting the perception of what is deemed possible withi​n my generation of actors and

entertainers as it pertains to societal contribution” (Berg). ​As young girls, older women, and

everyone in between are able to work together and take inspiration from each other, everyone

learns and benefits from the teamwork and community aspect of activism. Celebrities, well

known activists, and politicians have banded together to show other women the power of

stepping out of their area of expertise to stand up for their beliefs and concerns.

Jesse Williams, an actor best known for ​Grey’s Anatomy a​ nd ​The Sisterhood of the

Traveling Pants 2​, has been involved in activism since before his career on TV began. Growing

up in Chicago and Massachusetts and becoming a teacher in Philadelphia, allowed him to see

both underprivileged and privileged schools (Izadi and Butler). This led him to take action on

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causes like Black Lives Matter, Flint, Michigan’s water crisis, and education. Williams worked

with Ryan Coogler, director, producer, and screenwriter, and his organization “Blackout for

Human Rights” to hold a free benefit event to help the people who were impacted by Flint’s

water crisis. This event was created to offer Flint’s residents a break from the issues they are

facing and provide them with a night of laughter and relaxation. However, it is also to bring

awareness to the ongoing issue and humanize the crisis, they wanted to show how impactful it

had been over the years. The people of Flint not only have dealt with the water crisis, but also

have inequity within their school systems and mass incarceration (Blay). Coogler and Williams

strived to give them a platform to discuss and bring awareness to these social issues, and give the

people of Flint a chance to show how dire their situation is. Luckily they are not the only ones

fighting against these issues.

Overtime teenagers and young adults have shown interest in rebelling and taking a stance

for their beliefs. People under the age of thirty are often said to be lazy and unappreciative, yet

they are the upcoming generation that is ready to take over and leave longstanding benefits. In

Houston, Texas, Ashton P. Woods, a millennial activist, is running for City Council- At Large.

Woods, originally from New Orleans, is a gay, black, activist who was raped as a teenager

(“Meet Ashton P. Woods”). His background, along with his family, friends, and teacher

formulated his interest and career in activism. “​I grew up in one of the blackest cities in America

and what I saw was [that] when people protested, councilmen protested with them. People got

what they wanted (“Meet Ashton P. Woods”). As a Councilman, Woods would hope to focus on

issues such as equity, LGBTQ+ rights, voter turnout, minimum wage, and healthcare. One of his

main focuses is Black Lives Matter and worked in support of the Sandra Bland Act. This act

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“mandates county jails divert people with mental health and substance abuse issues toward

treatment, makes it easier for defendants to receive a personal bond if they have a mental illness

or intellectual disability, and requires that independent law enforcement agencies investigate jail

deaths (Silver). W​ith all of his efforts and success, Woods is just one example of the younger

generation getting involved.

Marley Dias is a twelve year old girl who adored reading throughout school, but quickly

noticed the absence of black girls in the books she had to read. Stating, “​they were all about

white boys and th​eir dogs” (McGrath), D​ias was determined to increase the diversity seen in

young readers’ books. ##1000BlackGirlBooks is a campaign that she started in order to collect

and donate books that focused on black female main characters. She has now collected over

9,000 books and is now writing a book of her own (McGrath). Dias realized there was an issue

that not only affected her, but millions of other girls and set out to find a solution to solve it.

Eleven-year-old Mari Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, is another young activist

who has already dedicated a fraction of her life to activism. Flint, Michigan has not had clean

water since 2014, and Copeny has worked to represent the children who are living through it.

She first wrote a letter to Obama asking him to meet with a group going to Washington D.C. for

hearings about Flint, however he responded saying he was going to Michigan to aid th​em

(Mason). Copeny not only advocates for the water crisis, but also works with Pack your Back to

provide Flint children with backpacks for school, is an ambassador for the Women’s Marches,

Equality for Her​, and the Climate March, and has spoken at the Science March and Girl Up

Leadership Conference (Mason). Now eleven, Copeny has worked for four years to help others

in her city, and during this time she has inspired many people, especially young girls to bring

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attention and putting effort towards local causes.

Celebrities have a major influence over the younger generation in topics relating to

makeup, body image, clothes, or music; however, their political advocacy may seem like it

amounts to much less. In ​The Atlantic Journal of Communication, ​Gwendelyn Nisbett and

Christina DeWalt explain a s​tudy of eight focus groups who discussed how celebrities’ influence

and credibility in politics (DeWalt and Nisbett). While famous people sharing their perspective

“manifested in a greater interest in an issue”, there did not seem to be much of an overall attitude

change (DeWalt and Nisbett). Despite this, there was a large degree of perceived influence on

each other, especially due to social media, which is a massive platform for both celebrities and

non famous activists and people.

Big name stars and reformers not only collaborated on social media, but also integrated

their skills and like minded view points to approach new serious issues. Due to an increase in

mass and school shootings, many celebrities have taken to social media to show their support,

however some have done more. The NoRA, or No Rifle Association, is an example of a group

of activists and celebrities working together to fight against gun violence and advocate for gun

laws. “​NoRA’s members include ​Jimmy Kimmel​, Amy Schumer, Alec Baldwin, Ashley Judd,

Julianne Moore, Patton Oswalt, Constance Wu, W. Kamau Bell, Amber Tamblyn, Debra

Messing, Mi​nnie Driver, Tarana Burke, as well as several artists, policy experts and survivors of

gun violence” (Chan). David Hogg, a student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

during the school shooting in 2018, is also a prominent member, and promotes their goal to

“expose public servants who have been stymying gun control legislation after taking money from

the NRA. NoRA believes it can use grassroots and digital awareness campaigns to help vote

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those legislators out of office” (Chan). The teamwork displayed by celebrities and activist shows

their willingness to work together, and for one another. It also emphasizes how much they

respect and can learn from each other and their work.

My second interview with Jessie Skeva, an activist and student who lives in San

Francisco, focused on how she became interested in activism and the importance of continuing to

teach younger generations about how they can become involved. When asked if seeing one’s

favorite celebrity take action on important issues will affect them in the future, Skeva responded:

Definitely, I think that kids are super susceptible to any type of media influence, their

favorite character, their favorite celebrity, athlete, all of that is going to impact them as a

person. So if they see, for example, the movie ​Moana, ​if they are a young black or brown

kid and they actually see a film where a white lead is not the standard, obviously that’s

going to impact the way they view themselves, so in terms of political issues I think that

some kids are definitely going to be swayed and some are still going to hold their ground,

but being able to have a diversified representation of political issues in the media will be

important so that they are not just seeing obe view, one side, and I think either her way

they are going to be impacted in some way. I think it will just give them more

understanding at a young age, which will teach them to be more empathetic and

understanding as they get older.

As Skeva pointed out, not only will celebrities influence children and teenagers, but even

cartoons or fictional characters. Implementing different social issues into various forms of media

will ultimately educate the youth. Similarly, improving the connotation of celebrities’ influence,

as well as the negativity surrounding protesting will eventually better people’s mindsets and lead

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to action (Drake and Love 33). Witnessing one’s favorite character or athlete stand up for what

they think is right will ultimately teach the youth to do so as well, resulting in more political

involvement overtime.

In a country that has reached different heights of political controversy, new forms of

technology, and faced new and upcoming issues, we as a society must stay informed and united.

The combination of a celebrities’ platform and the number of people willing to fight for a

campaign can lead to endless opportunities and success. Like the NoRA, coalitions between

both activists and celebrities would initiate a new type of participation in politics. In recent

years, many new issues have come up while old issues have continued to prevail, yet mass

amounts of support has been shown. While famous people have continued to leave a long lasting

impact on the youth, these millennials and children have inspired many celebrities as well. The

passion and drive of these young activists will continue to draw in new supporters as well as gain

the attention of people in power.

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Works Cited

Berg, Madeline. “Meet Yara Shahidi: The 17-Year-Old Actress And Activist.” ​Forbes.

16 November 2017.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2017/11/16/meet-yara-shahidi-the-17-y

ear-old-actress-and-activist/#5a3f36587ad3. Accessed 10 Mar 2019.

Blay, Zeba. “Ryan Coogler and Jesse Williams On The Purpose Behind

#JusticeForFlint.” ​Huffpost. 2​ 6 February 2016.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ryan-coogler-and-jesse-williams-on-the-pu

rpose-behind-justiceforflint_us_56d06d71e4b0871f60eb1103. Accessed 11 Mar

2019.

Chan, Melissa. “'The Time Is Now.' This New Coalition of Celebrities and Activists Just

Pledged to Take on the NRA.” ​Time. ​20 April 2018.

http://time.com/5248072/nora-coalition-celebrities-nra/. Accessed 4 Mar 2019.

DeWalt, Christina Childs and Nisbett, Gwendelyn S. “Exploring the influence of

celebrities in politics: A focus group study of young voters.” ​Atlantic Journal of

Communication. 2​ 1 July 2016.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15456870.2016.1184664?src=recsy

s&journalCode=hajc20. Accessed 11 Mar 2019.

Drake, Jane, and Ann Love. ​Yes You Can!: Your Guide to Becoming an Activist​. Tundra

Books, 2010.

Izadi, Elahe and Butler, Bethonie. “Jesse Williams was fighting for racial justice long

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before his stirring BET speech.” ​ The Washington Post. 2​ 7 June 2016.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jesse-williams-was-fighting-for-r

acial-justice-long-before-his-stirring-bet-speech/2016/06/27/211d7c06-3c7f-11e6-

a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html?utm_term=.fe7f1d28c9a2. Accessed 30 Jan.

2019.

Klobuchar, Amy. ​Nevertheless, We Persisted: 48 Voices of Defiance, Strength, and

Courage​. Random House Childrens Books, 2018.

Mason, Heather. “Meet Smart Girl Mari Copeny aka ‘Little Miss Flint’.”

Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls​. August 22, 2017

https://amysmartgirls.com/meet-smart-girl-mari-copeny-aka-little-miss-flint-4131

419a31bd. Accessed 4 Mar 2019.

Mansfield, Aaron. “How LeBron James Became One of Donald Trump’s Most

Influential Adversaries By Refusing To Shut Up and Dribble.” ​Complex. 1​ 8

November 2018.

https://www.complex.com/sports/2018/11/how-lebron-james-became-one-of-dona

ld-trump-most-influential-adversaries. Accessed 10 Mar 2019.

McGrath, Maggie. “From Activist To Author:

How 12-Year-Old Marley Dias Is Changing The Face Of Children's Literature.”

Forbes. ​13 June 2017.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2017/06/13/from-activist-to-author-

how-12-year-old-marley-dias-is-changing-the-face-of-childrens-literature/#62d1b

fb24ce0. Accessed 11 Mar 2019.

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“Meet Ashton P. Woods, the millennial Black Lives Matter activist running for Houston

City Council-At Large.” ​Black Youth Project. ​22 February 2019.

http://blackyouthproject.com/meet-ashton-p-woods-the-millennial-black-lives-ma

tter-activist-running-for-houston-city-council-at-large/. Accessed 5 Mar 2019.

Reid-Cleveland Keith. “7 Celebrities Who Fearlessly Support Black Lives Matter.”

Black Youth Project. ​ 13 July 2016.

http://blackyouthproject.com/7-celebrities-who-fearlessly-support-for-black-lives-

matter/. Accessed 4 Mar 2019.

Rose, ShiShi. New York Activist. Email Interview. 26 February 2019.

Silver, Jonathan. “Texas Gov. Abbott signs "Sandra Bland Act" into law.” ​The Texas

Tribune. 1​ 5 June 2017.

https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/15/texas-gov-greg-abbott-signs-sandra-blan

d-act-law/. Accessed 11 Mar 2019.

Skeva, Jessie. San Francisco Activist. Personal Interview. 5 March 2019.

Smith, Krista. “Yara Shahidi on Being a Role Model, Attending Harvard, and

Continuing Her Activism.” ​Vanity Fair. 9​ February 2018.

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