Katy Perry just shared a powerful anti-hate video and we’re listening
Fresh out of picking up UNICEF’s Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award, Katy Perry has turned her attention to another cause close to her heart. The singer took to Twitter to share her support to a pro-Muslim American PSA, and we’re listening.
Before November’s election, Perry was a vocal advocate and supporter of Hillary Clinton. Following Trump’s victory, however, the singer wasn’t down trodden. Instead, it seems, she’s been spurred on to make a difference, and has been making a difference, like standing up for Planned Parenthood.
“It’s time to turn words into action!” she wrote on Instagram. “There are so many steps to take, but my first vow is to support organizations that may have their funding support taken from them in the future by the government.”
Well, now Katy Perry has thrown her support behind another cause and it’s so important.
Taking to Twitter, the Teenage Dream singer shared an powerful short-film PSA titled “#DontNormalizeHate.” The clip asks the question as to whether the anti-Muslim rhetoric in today’s climate is just history repeating itself in the shape of the the mass incarceration of 120,000 Japanese American citizens during World War II.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBsImjKVof4?feature=oembed
According to the Los Angeles Times, Perry executive-produced and funded the short-film, which follows the true story of 89-year-old Haru Kuromiya, a resident of Riverside, California, who was incarceration by order of the American government in the 1940s.
"Trump has created an atmosphere of fear for Muslim Americans in the United States, director Aya Tanimura, who has worked on lyric videos for Perry before, told The Times. “The accountability and responsibility for what you say and do now has been lifted so people feel a little freer to be racist, or act upon racism, because there are not necessarily consequences for it — it’s just acceptable behavior. If laws are put in place to back that up, it will be pretty scary.
Tanimura worked on the PSA alongside Oscar-nominated special effects expert Tony Gardner, and both teamed up with Asian American nonprofit Visual Communications on the project, which involved many people volunteering time. The casting of Hina Khan, a Los Angeles-based actress of Pakistani heritage, was, Tanimura says, “non-negotiable.”
"Katy has always been a champion of the underdog, of minorities, of the people who are kind of left of center, and she’s become more politically involved in the last few election cycles, Tanimura said about Perry's involvement in the project. "I think like a lot of us who are terrified of Trump’s ideals and policies, she is too. And this is one instance where she’s able to help educate someone — even one person — on the horrors of the past and what could potentially be repeated."
We really respect Katy Perry for using her platform and privilege as a famous artist to speak out on those issues that she feels are important, and we’re all ears to what she has to say.
