“It’s time to make a change:” Lizzo Calls Out Institutional Racism at Global Citizen Live Performance

Over the weekend, Lizzo took over the stage at Global Citizen Live, located in New York City’s Central Park. Lizzo took time out of her performance to educate the crowd on institutional racism, reminding the audience that Central Park was once Seneca Village and at its height, Seneca Village was a community of nearly 300 people that existed between the 1820s and 1850s. Seneca Village was a predominantly Black neighborhood, housing some of the first Black property owners in the city. On top of this, it was also home to white European immigrants, who coexisted peacefully with their neighbors. Then in the 1850s, New York City took over the area, and in came plans for Central Park. Seneca Village, along with the thriving community that lived there, was destroyed.

Lizzo stated: “As we talk about climate change and making the world a better place and solving homelessness, we also have to talk about the institutionalized racism that happens in this country all the time. And if we don’t talk about our history constructively, how can we build a better future? It’s time to talk about things, and it’s time to make a change. And it starts within. You got to better to yourself, so you can be better to others.”

Source: BET