Kanye ‘Ye’ West is yet again dominating headlines. The latest? The “White Lives Matter” t-shirt worn by himself, models, and celebrities on the runway as part of his YZY SZN9 show at Paris Fashion Week, decrying the Black Lives Matter movement as a “scam”. When Vogue Editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson criticised his decision, describing the t-shirts as “deeply offensive, violent and dangerous”, Kanye responded by mocking Gabriella and her fashion sense on Instagram.
Vogue released a statement saying “she was personally targeted and bullied… in a private meeting with Ye today she once again spoke her truth in a way she felt best, on her terms.”
Ye is so hell-bent on defying the status quo, he actively plays devil’s advocate in order to rally people up – even if it means firmly backtracking on his own previously expressed views – so he can stand out as the man with his own ideas.
Over the last two days, Ye has prompted serious discourse around the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as inadvertently highlighting the havoc one person’s actions can wreak on an entire community. Kanye West has been a pillar in the Black community for almost two decades and fans across the world have since gravitated toward his artistry. What he says matters, and it affects people everywhere.
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As tempted as I was to take the approach of “Ignore him, and he’ll go away”, I can’t ignore the fact that Kanye has the power to seriously hinder the progress the Black community has made in the last few years to create further equality and leverage for themselves, at a time when race relations in the western world are turbulent.
What Kanye did by wearing those T-shirts wasn’t revolutionary, it was pure disrespect for a community that is still being marginalised and gaslit about their experiences and their healing process, through generational trauma, and stemming from slavery and discrimination. The T-shirts are offensive to the people that fought and marched for equal rights for the Black community. The message on those T-shirts created a vessel for hatred as opposed to the play on irony he alluded to in the aftermath.
The Black Lives Matter movement clearly wasn’t created to marginalise any other demographics, but instead to highlight a community who are still striving for equality. Ye, as the self-confessed genius he claims to be, should be well aware of this.
“You wish you had a percentage of her intellect.”
Like myself, many celebrities have jumped to criticise Kanye’s actions like Gigi Hadid, Jaden Smith, rapper Boosie Badazz, and most recently, Khloe Kardashian, who wrote: “I’m trying to be respectful but please STOP tearing Kimberly down and using our family when you want to deflect.”
Ye has lost touch with the community that supported him from the start – his OWN community. In the years that I have been a self-professed stan of Kanye’s artistry (the music more so than the fashion), I have learned that he is a complicated person and that the way he communicates is often nuanced, convoluted, and abstract. I’m also aware that he suffers with bipolar disorder. I often remind myself that Kanye’s actions stem from good intentions. He's exposed music corporations and released pictures of his music contract and legal documents on Twitter. He said that former US president George W. Bush doesn't care about Black people. Or the infamous “When you hear about slavery for 400 years, for 400 years? That sounds like a choice”, which he later explained was about the need to take action against racial prejudice, rather than simply speak about it.
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I am also aware that he’s aware of his evidently unhinged behaviour – to quote one of his most successful songs – “It’s provocative, it gets people going”. The Kanye that the Black community uplifted and supported in his rise to billionaire status often challenged ideas that were of service to the community and of service to others. This version of Kanye we see is self-serving; it gets people to stream his music and buy his clothes.
Freedom of speech is something that our ancestors fought for; in fact, as I write this I am fully aware of my privilege as someone who can exercise that. But much of what Kanye says is easily misinterpreted, and it mobilises others to create hate speech. That’s the power that Kanye holds.
I'm aware that Kanye struggles with his mental health and past traumas, such as the death of his beloved mother Donda West in 2007, that we as a community should be empathetic towards. But we can not use mental illness to mask the wrongs and the impact his actions have. Statements like: “Slavery is a choice”, “Black people focus on race too much” and “White Lives Matter” are not the thought-provoking messages he thought they would be. They are indoctrinating harmful narratives, inciting hatred and creating divisiveness at a time that people everywhere, from all races, should be uniting.
Kanye's critique of the Black Lives Matter movement isn't completely unfounded – the organisation has been criticised for inappropriate misuse of funds. But to make such a blatant mockery out of the Black Lives Matter movement comes at great detriment to its origins, the growth, and the betterment of Black people everywhere. Because when we say ‘Black Lives Matter’, we’re not actually talking about an organisation, we’re talking about real human beings being murdered for existing while Black. Black people are brutally reminded that their lives are less significant at any given moment. That is not a scam. That is why Black Lives Matter isn't just important; it's vital.
For more from Glamour UK Beauty Writer Shei Mamona, follow her on Instagram @sheimamona
