A few years ago, the words of Pharrell on the Ellen DeGeneres show around a gospel singer who had made extremely homophobic remarks during a sermon would impact me forever.
Being a queer disabled BIPOC, it broke my heart hearing someone I had admired for years, and worked on amazing projects including Hidden Figures. Her apology would be just as damaging and hurtful as her sermon.
Backhanded apologies, misunderstood theology, and ignorance only perpetuate the problem. That was when Pharrell said something poignant (as he always does!)
"There's no space, there's no room for any kind of prejudice in 2017 and moving on. There's no room--- [truncated] ... We all have to get used to everyone's differences and understand that this is a big, gigantic, beautiful, colorful world and it only works with INCLUSION and EMPATHY. It only works that way."
IT ONLY WORKS THAT WAY.
He later said: "I condemn hate speech of any kind. There is no room in this world for any kind of prejudice. My greatest hope is for inclusion and love for all humanity in 2017 and beyond."
It's "beyond", and we still need this message. I created this shirt actually for a grad project, but my passion and the message never left my heart. Let's spread this message as we have the potential to truly be here and advocate for each other, but it doesn't work without empathy and inclusion.
