Reports have been published today claiming that Rihanna turned down offers to perform at the Superbowl Halftime Show in support of Colin Kaepernick. This column in Variety talks about the significance of this, highlighting the shift of the show from status symbol to political endorsement. After Kaepernick was basically blacklisted from the NFL after his national anthem protests, one's support of organization has become equated with political and cultural views. In the past, performers like Beyonce have used the platform to send a specific message - her performance of "Formation" caused quite the frenzy back in 2016. Seeing women of color challenge symbols of white supremacy and heteropatriarchy in the media is important in advancing the conversations and actions about these topics.
I'm pretty ok with Rihanna declining to perform and it makes me believe she's more committed to support Colin Kaepernick and BLM more than Nike is. Also I think this contributes to the history of women of color criticising the white supremacy and heteropatriarchy culture of NFL from M.I.A. flipping off the camera to Beyonce's Black Panther performance of Formation.
I also agree that Rihanna had every right to turn down the Super Bowl. She is standing up for something she believes in. The NFL is entirely owned by old white men and as I saw in a video by Jemele Hill there is no way that the NFL is going to change when there is no representation of the players in ownership.
I'm pretty ok with Rihanna declining to perform and it makes me believe she's more committed to support Colin Kaepernick and BLM more than Nike is. Also I think this contributes to the history of women of color criticising the white supremacy and heteropatriarchy culture of NFL from M.I.A. flipping off the camera to Beyonce's Black Panther performance of Formation.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Rihanna had every right to turn down the Super Bowl. She is standing up for something she believes in. The NFL is entirely owned by old white men and as I saw in a video by Jemele Hill there is no way that the NFL is going to change when there is no representation of the players in ownership.
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