Rebecca Black says there is no returning to normal and instead calls on her fellow celebrities to adopt a new normal in support of Black Lives Matter and Pride.
Black, 22, is a featured guest for the “It Gets Better: A Digital Pride Experience” event. The “Friday” sensation is a staunch supporter for causes benefitting Black Lives Matter (BLM), Pride and anti-bullying. Black has been learning, protesting and advocating for BLM and urges other notable voices to do so without relent.
“You might think you’re doing enough but there is always more to be done,” Black tells ET Canada. “There are so many amazing uses for the platform you have that might be slipping away every day. It’s consistently eye-opening.”
“I’m trying to listen and learn and elevate the voices that need to be elevated right now. It’s Black voices, it’s Black queer voices. To really be doing what I can to support them,” she adds. “I just think it is the right thing to do right now. There is always going to be time to post about yourself and your career. There is a time and a place for that and I don’t know if it’s right now.”
Some stars have been accused of doing the bare minimum to support BLM before returning to their regularly scheduled self-promotion. Black asserts that normality should not and will not look the same.
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“The key that a lot of creators, influencers, celebrities, whatever you want to call it, are missing is that it’s not about getting back to normal. There is no getting back to normal from here on out,” Black insists. “It’s how you incorporate these things into your new normal. How do you continue to use your voice while adding this new element to it?”
“As a person who has something to say, it will only benefit you to uplift the voices that need to be uplifted the most,” she continues. “Be a better educator, be a better influencer. It is in your job title.”
This Pride is a unique one for Black because it is her first one as an openly queer person: “I have been able to celebrate Pride as a queer person in my own life… This is a very special Pride in a lot of ways. It is definitely an important year to be celebrating it and speaking about it.”
Black expands on why the term queer is a fit for her. A queer identity does not correspond to established ideas of sexuality and gender, especially heterosexual norms.
“It’s a term that provides a lot of comfort to me in the sense of lacking labels. I know a lot of people find that hard to understand because it in itself is a label,” she shares. “Coming from a part of the country that is decently conservative, I’ve always known that I didn’t necessarily fit into that box. I was always kind of the black sheep of my community in some way.”
“The label queer allows me to have a bit of forgiveness to myself,” Black explains. “It allows me to just live my life. It is something that feels right to me.”
There is a through-line between Black’s advocacy for BLM and Pride, and her fight against cyber-bullying. Black released “Friday” when she was 13 and it quickly blew up for all the wrong reasons. It was harshly denounced by critics and the public, who turned her into one of the early viral Internet stars. Black endured years of bullying and self-doubt.
“On one hand it feels like baggage, but on the other hand, it has definitely given me a whole unique set of experiences that have helped me a lot. Especially being that I am someone who tries to advocate for what I believe in so passionately,” she tells ET Canada. “Doing it in an educated way and well-researched way. I definitely have a unique sense of empathy for people who have been defined by one experience in their life.”
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“We are in an age where kids are going viral every day,” Black elaborates. “Sense of self and how that is defined in this new world that we’re all learning every day is something that I think is a very unique experience for young people. It’s so important for finding myself. I try and do the best as I can as someone who is not just speaking about it but dealing with it myself.”
Black urges past generations to learn about and support Generation Z and Millennials against the crushing weight of social media.
“I’m trying to teach those who are a little bit older to help us. I don’t see the point in not uplifting and elevating youth. I don’t know if I’ll never not see the point in that. Continue to understand those who are younger and do so with a sense of empathy,” Black says. “Listen to them. Just listen.”
“The number of times I’ve tried to have conversations with people who are older who are so stuck in one way of viewing something,” Black continues, before urging young people to be patient and non-combative when trying to educate older generations, something Black is still learning to do herself. “It’s also on us as a youth.”
The public is more and more learning about the dangers of social media, particularly when it comes to mental health; however, Black is also aware that she owes a lot of her success to the DIY nature of the online space.
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“For so long I heard, ‘You’ll never make it because of this or you’ll never make it because you look this way or you talk about this or your music isn’t totally right.’ I think now, what we’re seeing across the board is the more unique you are and the more different you are from what is predicted to do well, the better off you’re going to be.”
“I spent so many years feeling so hopeless because I listened to the people who told me I wasn’t necessarily right or I would never have a space or community for myself. I found that community through the choices that are most me,” she concludes. “We are not having to rely on the radio or a label to be a gatekeeper to finding our audience. We can do it ourselves.”
When pressed about new music, Black was hesitant to take attention away from important causes but assures “as soon as it’s ready, it will be out.” She released the “Do You? (Goldhouse Remix) on Thursday.
The It Gets Better Project hosts the “It Gets Better: A Digital Pride Experience” from June 24 through June 26. It will broadcast daily from 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT to 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Peppermint hosts the event with performances by fellow “Drag Race” stars Crystal Methyd and Jujubee. Black, Alyson Stoner, The Aces, Nick Lehmann, The Angelinos and Rob Anderson are also scheduled to appear. The event will broadcast on YouTube, Facebook and Twitch.
