LIZZO AT THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS: AS GOOD AS HELL
Lizzo acceptance speech for People Choice Awards 2022
Lizzo’s speech at the 2022 People’s Choice Awards is the perfect example of a public figure using their platform to highlight the good work of others
One emerging trend in business during the 2020s has been the rise of leaders acting as semi-corporate activists, speaking out on social issues such as sustainability and the climate crisis, the Ukraine war, plus racial and gender inequality.
Perhaps some of these CEOs could go even further at their next AGM, possibly emulating singer-songwriter’s Lizzo’s acceptance speech at last night’s 2022 People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles. Rather than blurting out thanks to the record company staff and their fans (as stars at these awards usually do), Lizzo remarked it was important musicians use their platforms, before bringing 17 activists onstage with her, spending the next five minutes individually introducing each advocate/campaigner by name and the causes they represent.
These activists spanned a 15-year-old schoolgirl campaigning for safe drinking water, the mother of a young Black woman killed by police in Kentucky, an Iranian-American grassroots campaigner plus activists for indigenous communities, migrants and abortion rights.
“Ever since the beginning of my career, I’ve used my platform to amplify marginalised voices,” Lizzo said in her speech last night. Since scoring her first mainstream hit Boys in 2018, Lizzo has regularly spoken out against racial bias in the music industry. The plus-size model is also celebrated as a role model for body positivity and takes a stand against body-shaming. She’s also a strong ally for the LGBTQ+ community.
The 17 activists honoured by Lizzo last night were:
Amariyanna Copeny: aka ‘Little Miss Flint’, a 15-year-old who campaigns for safe drinking water in Michigan.
Shirley Raines: organiser of Beauty 2 the Streetz, which provides hair and makeup (plus meals and showers) to LA’s homeless population.Yasmine Aker: Iranian-American grassroots activist.
Emiliana Guereca: founder of the Women’s March Foundation.
Esther Young Lim: author of the How to Report a Hate Crime booklet.
Felicia “Fe” Montes: Co-founder of the women’s collective Mujeres de Maiz.
Jayla Rose Sullivan: Burlesque dancer who advocates for transgender/nonbinary performers in the dance community.
Kara Roselle Smith: Indigenous rights advocate and member of the Chappaquiddick Wampanoag Tribe.
Maggie Mireles: Campaigns for gun reform after her teacher sister, Eva, lost her life protecting students during a school shooting in Texas.
Amelia Bonow: co-founder of abortion rights organisation Shout Your Abortion.
Odilia Romero: indigenous migrant rights activist.
Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh: Iranian-American vice-president of Jewish engagement at American Jewish University.
Sahar Pirzada: campaigns against Islamophobia and gender-based violence.
Chandi Moore: HIV/ trans rights activist and community health educator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Crystal Echo Hawk: Indigenous rights advocate, member of the Pawnee nation of Oklahoma and president/director of IllumiNative.
Reshma Saujani: Author/CEO of Girls Who Code and founder of the Marshall Plan for Moms.
Tamika Palmer: Is pursuing justice for her daughter Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman killed by police in her own home in Kentucky.