Shawn Mendes announced Friday he will give his Instagram Stories over to “young Black change makers on the frontlines in the fight against systemic racism.”
The Canadian singer, who has 56 million followers on Instagram, asked his fans to “receive them with love and solidarity” over the next few days.
Mendes started Friday by amplifying the voice of Zyahna Bryant, a student activist and community organizer in Virginia.
“Silence is violence and so it’s so important that we all use our voices right now to speak up against the white supremacy and racism that has been plaguing our country for so long,” Bryant said in the last of 10 IG Stories.
Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga have also committed to giving their social media platforms over to Black voices.
Earlier this week Mendes took part in a protest in Miami with Camila Cabello and, last weekend, he took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the death of George Floyd and on the fight against racism.
“I’m so sorry that this injustice keeps happening. I can’t image what life dealing with racism so constantly is like,” he wrote. “As a white person, I not only recognize that this is a problem but that I am a part of the problem. That is has long due been time to not only ‘not accept’ racism, but to become anti-racist. That all of us that are in the majority, can’t sit idle any longer while the minority are suffering.
“It’s time for ALL humans to demand change. This needs to be EVERYONES (sic) fight. We need to start to really listen to & help amplify black voices. To make their struggles known and to reject racism. It’s time to take action on that feeling in your heart that knows how wrong this is. This can NOT be the world our children of the future live in. The time for change is long overdue & we can’t rest until change is what we get.”
Just nine months ago, Mendes issued a mea culpa after being called out for since-deleted “racially insensitive" tweets from 2013. Mendes wrote: “I am so sorry. I apologize wholeheartedly for what was said & understand how offensive those posts were. There is no place for comments like that, and those words do not represent who I am. I stand for complete inclusivity, equality, & love.”