In a recent Instagram video, Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock has spoken up about racism and about personal experiences that she has made due to being a black woman. Since then, she’s gained a lot of support and comforting from the girlband’s fan base.
In yesterday’s (June 9) interview with “This Morning”, the 28-year-old explained why she feels like this was the right moment to speak up about her personal encounters.“I spoke about my experiences briefly last year and I just didn’t feel like enough people cared, like enough people were listening”, Pinnock said. But now, after the brutal death of George Floyd due to racism, the world is paying attention. All around the globe, Black Lives Matter protests are happening, and people are getting angry about the treatment black people receive.
“And obviously, this is the first time in my life that the whole world is speaking about racism, speaking about black lives and I was just so overwhelmed by it and I just thought, ‘You know what, I feel like I need to kind of get rid of this pain that I’ve been carrying around for nine years and hopefully relate to people.”
.@LittleMix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock speaks out on racism and her personal experiences with it:
“My reality is constantly feeling like I have to work ten times harder and longer to mark my place in the group — because my talent alone isn’t enough.” pic.twitter.com/HaFN7dPHcy
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 6, 2020
In her video, she talks about underlining racism in the creative industry, about the rare moments she had meeting other black people since she’s joined Little Mix nine years ago and about the reality of her having“to work ten times harder because my talent alone isn’t enough.”
Despite the fear, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, the “Break Up Song” singer said. Of course, she’s gotten all the love and support from her fans, but also from allies within the music industry. “It’s actually been such a weight lifted for me. I was hearing from people who have been in the same sort of experiences that I have, so being the black girl in their band in the pop industry, saying how they felt exactly the same way as me and I’ve never ever had conversations with people who have had similar experiences as me.”
'A lot of people would say to me it's in your head' says Little Mix's Leigh-Anne, after speaking out about her experience of racism, and what it's been like for her.
See the full interview here https://t.co/Q7IV485mUn pic.twitter.com/RiF9IIjiQy
— This Morning (@thismorning) June 9, 2020
She confessed that she felt like she didn’t belong where she is, since there’s only one mixed-race person working on her team, as well as the fact that the popular girl group is mostly touring predominately white countries. “Just felt like a lot of people didn’t understand why I felt the way I did”, Pinnock reveals, adding that she could only talk to her family and a few friends about how she felt.
Fellow musicians like Normani or Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui have commented on the post, showing their support, as well as the other Little Mix members. Maybe this will help Leigh-Anne to feel a little bit less lonely in this situation.
