Billie Eilish was acknowledged for her work in climate advocacy at the MLK, JR. Beloved Community Awards this past Saturday, in honour of her Changemaker Program for the ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ tour. The program raised over $11.5m, which is being donated to environmental and food security initiatives.
In her acceptance speech, Eilish that she “really [doesn’t] feel deserving” and that “it’s very strange to be celebrated for working towards environmental justice at a time where it feels less achievable than ever given the state of our country and the world right now.”
“We’re seeing our neighbours being kidnapped, peaceful protesters being assaulted and murdered, our civil rights being stripped, resources to fight the climate crisis being cut for fossil fuels and animal agriculture destroying our planet, and people’s access to food and healthcare becoming a privilege for the wealthy instead of a new basic human right for all Americans,” she added.
“It’s become very clear that protecting our planet and communities are not a priority for this administration, and it’s really hard to celebrate that when we no longer feel safe in our own homes or in our streets,” Eilish continued. “I have this platform and I think it’s my responsibility to use it, so I feel like I’m just doing what anyone in my position should be doing.”
The speech was preceded by several posts by Eilish on social media regarding the shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, in which she described ICE as a “federally funded and supported terrorist group under the department of homeland security that has done nothing to make our streets safer.”
These statements also follow comments the artist made at the WSJ Innovator Awards in October, when she asked “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?” — a question posted to an audience that included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source musically.com ’
