Female artists unite to support LoveMusicHateRacism campaign, Beautiful Resistance

08 March 2019 - Press release

Lianne La Havas, Ray BLK, Grace Carter and Kara Marni have joined forces to launch the new LoveMusicHateRacism ‘Beautiful Resistance’ campaign and celebrate International Women’s Day. 

The two-week campaign, which launches today, aims to unite, inspire, engage and empower people in the fight against racism through a shared love of music. To kick it off, Lianne La Havas, Ray BLK, Grace Carter and Kara Marni have shared their own inspirational personal stories around culture, identity and discrimination in an emotionally raw video revealed today on YouTube. 

Artists Lianne La Havas, Ray BLK and Grace Carter share their own deeply personal experiences of racism, how this impacted them and how they found strength and determination to silence these voices. Lianne, who is half Greek and half Jamaican, recalls recently being called a “black b*****” by a security guard at a club in Australia while trying to protect her petite friend from being pushed around.  

Singer-songwriter Ray BLK provides an honest account of the racism she experienced at the start of her career and expresses the importance of being your unique self and when asked what she loves about her Nigerian heritage, she explains energetically “We are very loud, we express ourselves and we’re very free, I think that’s what I love…we are unapologetically ourselves”. Singer Grace speaks about her Jamaican roots, reflecting on her own identity whilst Kara Marni talks about her grandparents who were immigrants from Cyprus. 

When questioned on what a world without racism means to her, Grace says “Everyone living together in the same place and embracing each other for who they are and not the colour of their skin”. When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, Ray sums this up in a powerful sentence, “Don’t dim your light so other people can shine”. 

Kara says, “A world without racism should be exactly what it should be, where people get their opportunities off their skillset, off their talent and who they are, not what they look like, so I hope to one day be in a world where I can see that”. 

All four female artists emphasise the importance of embracing diversity, uniqueness and stress the importance of being your authentic self. Their honest accounts, wise words and inspiring strength embody a true ‘Beautiful Resistance’ against racism. 

Over 80 high-profile artists, musicians and talent will also be taking part in conversation pieces throughout the two-week campaign, including Anne-Marie, Dave, Ed Sheeran, Foals, Mahalia, Jorja Smith, Nile Rodgers and The 1975. There will also be an event to wrap up the campaign at live music venue, The Social in London on March 20^th, with artists performing. 

For more information on Love Music Hate Racism and to find out about upcoming events, please visit: https://www.lovemusichateracism.com/