As protestors continue to demonstrate against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, many are calling for people around the globe to join the Black Lives Matter movement. For anyone still hesitant about using that phrase, drag stars Bob the Drag Queen and Peppermint are here to explain why they shouldn’t be.
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In a one-hour conversation posted to Bob’s YouTube channel on Saturday (May 30), the two former Drag Race stars discussed the protests revolving around the death of George Floyd, and why it is vitally important to say that black lives matter, rather than some other variants of the phrase or staying silent.
During their conversation, Bob brought up that he had spoken to a number of Drag Race contestants who were hesitant to tweet #BlackLivesMatter for fear of alienating their audience, and shared the advice he gave to them for the audience at home.
“We don’t have time for you to evolve, and find your voice, and write a poem, and do a photoshoot,” he said in the video. In response to one queen who allegedly said she was afraid of being “cancelled,” Bob said he responded by saying, “‘You’re not cancelled. You know who’s cancelled? George Floyd is cancelled, and he’s never uncancelled. That’s what cancelled is.'”
Peppermint agreed, adding on that while she understands the urge to say nothing, that urge comes from a place of deep privilege. “It’s human to be afraid of what the reaction’s going to be,” she says. “How you feel, being scared about saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ … what it does is highlight that you can thrive and live and make money, and you never have to talk about people being killed. That is the definition of whatever kind of privilege you want to talk about.”
The drag star continued, saying that it is more than just privileged to say nothing — it is directly detrimental to the cause. “This is getting worse and worse,” she said. “Living in that world where you can just not engage, and still interact with the culture in a way where you’re picking and choosing; it shows a sense of callousness.”
Bob adding that he has a message for those who are choosing to stay silent on social media about the protests and the movement at large:”That is your right to do so, but b—h when I tell you that I will never forget that for the rest of my life, just know that I will never forget that.”
Check out the full discussion between Bob the Drag Queen and Peppermint below: