Celebrity Activism

Andrew Carnegie once said, “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced.” With that celebrity activism has continued to changed due to multiple celebrities stepping up to the plate and becoming activists. The likes of Chance the Rapper, Beyoncé and many more have taken . Although there is a history of many celebrities being activists, to highlight a few according to Ronald Brownstein, author for the American Association of Retired Persons, “Warren Beatty, Harry Belafonte, and many more,” (AARP.org). More celebrities of our time are stepping out now, from “George Clooney’s Enough Project, rapper Akon’s newly launched Lighting Africa to the viral Kony 2012 campaign, there’s no doubt celebrity activism has gone mainstream” (theguardian.com). Not everyone

In fact, “Some of them have left lasting marks on society, through the causes they've advanced. One even became president of the United States,” (AARP.org). A good example is Harry Belafonte, “As a singer and an actor, Belafonte possessed the rarest of commodities for a black man in the 1950s: a public platform” (AARP.org). He had the platform to voice his opinions on race and hunger in Africa, something most black people didn’t have at that time. Influencing many celebrities currently, according to Jon Caramica who wrote the article, ‘Jay Z and Beyoncé’s Activism Gone Vocal’, In 2012, the singer, actor and civil rights leader Harry Belafonte indicted, among others, Jay Z and Beyoncé as being part of a generation of black artists who have "turned their back on social responsibility."(Nytimes.com). This statement made Jay Z and Beyoncé step up their plate. As they are being called out by some all-time legendary celebrity activists that they need to step up their game and help the

His acts of service influence celebrities to go out and help in places like Africa. The article explains it as, “he's responsible for the tilt of celebrity activism toward poverty in the developing world” (AARP.org). Many celebrities have followed these footsteps of helping in Africa. An example of a celebrity influenced by Bono would be Akon, according to Amanda Froelich who wrote the article, ‘Akon Launches Solar Academy in Africa To Supply 600 Million with Electricity’, Akon is “working to supply the African people with sustainable energy. The rapper launched an initiative aptly titled ‘Akon Lighting Africa’, which aims to supply electricity to 600 million Africans” (Trueactivist.com). More celebrities are riding the wave to help provide for foreign countries that are in need. This was made possible because of the leaders that came before them that paved the way of celebrity