Last week, in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Solange deleted her Twitter account after sending a powerful message about white supremacy.
Her last tweet reads: “Deleting my twitter soon, but before I dip when we gonna pull up? And what we got to do to get my new hero Takiyah Thompson free?”
Takiyah Thompson is a 22-year-old college student arrested for helping pull down a Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina during an anti-racist rally in solidarity with Charlottesville. White supremacists held a violent “Unite the Right” rally on August 11 and 12 in Charlottesville to protest the proposed removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee; they killed one woman, Heather Heyer, and injured dozens others.
Soon after deleting Twitter, Solange posted similar sentiments on her Instagram story: “been trying to practice self preservation during this time and not give racist ass fuck bois who reek of citronella my energy so I can preserve my spirit to perform this album,” she wrote in part. “Fuck white supremacist. Fuck Nazis. Fuck your stale ass bland ass monuments.”
It’s worth noting that Twitter has been criticized for its failure to do enough to combat harassment or ban the numerous white supremacist accounts; Instagram, while certainly not perfect, has more protections in place.
We’re glad Solange is continuing to speak out on a platform that feels safest and healthiest to her, and we agree: Fuck white supremacy, Nazis, and stale ass bland ass monuments.
Top photo from BUST’s April/May 2017 issue: Photos by Nadya Wasylko // Styling by Peju Famojure // Makeup by Tracy Alfajora // Hair by Amy Farid // Nails By Mis Pop // Stylist Asst: Anna Estelle Flaglor // Shot at Attic Studios NYC
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