On August 9th, in Ferguson, Missouri, USA, an 18 year old African American man named Michael Brown, was shot and killed by someone who should've been protecting him - a police officer named Darren Wilson. What's worse? It was done in cold blood, in broad daylight, with no attempts to take the grim site of the body away from the public. The local population's blood boiled as bystanders witnessed a lifeless body representing the racist mentality and misuse of power of the local police force.
Protests against the inadequate police force within the area have taken place since then, and these events are not separate from the eyes of national pop culture icons. The American model and singer, Sky Ferreira, has come out as the only fashion figure to show her support for the Ferguson protests via her Instagram. Coincidentally, her posts have been uploaded a week after the condemnation of White American musicians such as Iggy Azalea, Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus who emulate the ethos of African American popular culture, for not joining in the cause. Effectively, Sky may influence other White Americans to speak up and voice their stance on the matter.
Recently, the Dream Defenders Executive Director, Phillip Agnew, commented that the event is a reflection of "a culture where one race is allowed to kill, and the other is not". This begs one to question, is the hesitation of influential members of the culture to defend African Americans a sign of hidden racial intolerance? Or a sign of their wanting to retain their reputation in times when their voice is needed to fuel change and progression in society?...
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