LIZZO and Intellectual Activism
by Tiffany N. Cody
Professor Collins defines intellectual activism as “the myriad of ways that people place the power of their ideas in service to social justice”. (Patricia Hill Collins, On Intellectual Activism) This week’s lecture illustrated how black feminists can take produced knowledge and use it to speak truth to power as well as speak truth to people. I was inspired by how the book excerpt served as a teaching modality on the subject while, at the same time, modeling a practical way for scholars to speak truth to power by sharing a collection of their works. The concept of intellectual activism is possible in all forms as it makes space for voices that are not traditionally heard. One voice that is heard around the world but has taken her popularity to speak truth to power and the people through her music is Melissa Vivian Jefferson, aka Lizzo.
Lizzo recently said in an interview with David Letterman that “she doesn’t want to be an activist because she is “fat and black” (Letterman). She went on to state what she would prefer to be an activist for, but I got stuck on that part of the interview. I can see exactly why Jefferson has been ordained by her black fans as an activist for this. She is speaking to the people by being a successful, confident, Grammy Award-winning, mainstream singer-songwriter. She is rejecting the stereotype of the mammy or the breeder and thriving in the self-definitions she has claimed for herself. Now, some would say that her skimpy clothes and bear behind twerking make her fall into the Jezebel stereotype, but she doesn’t self-identify with this, and instead composes music that empowers women to love themselves just the way they are.
Recently, Lizzo shared where she learned self-love from during her first Ted Talk. Her speech topic was the history and origins of twerking. Lizzo shared with the Ted community how she grew up in a time when having large buttocks was not popular. Her behind was the thing she least loved on her body but when she learned a dance that highlights having large buttocks, she fell in love with it. She then shared how until it was performed by a white woman on a popular award show, the West African dance was seen by mainstream as disgusting and over sexualizing. Her sharing the history of where the dance came from and pivoting to the contemporary social issue of culture appropriation by white musicians spoke truth to people on an unexpected but very relevant topic that garnered over 1.8 million views on YouTube. Lizzo ended her talk by sharing how being able to connect to a dance that her ancestors did makes her feel optimistic.
Based on the lecture notes and the book excerpt, intellectual activism is possible in all the places where ideas and politics are possible. In the book, Black Feminist Thought, Collins discusses how American black women have been participating in intellectual activism on the job, at home, and in communities since the beginning of enslavement. I found it interesting that not every woman who is an activist is speaking truth to power on a political stage, The example that brought this home for me she described a black mother who stands up to a school to protect her child from mistreatment as participating in activism. As a black woman, I related most to this as I thought of times when I had to do this very thing with school administrators who assumed liberties with my children at school while assuming they didn’t have an involved mother and father at home. Collins described these unseen rejections of definitions as a part of our collective consciousness. From moms in school offices to entertainers like Lizzo, marginalized and scholarly voices are collectively rejecting the stereotypes and negative definitions assigned and participating in the tradition of intellectual activism on stages and everywhere we can.
Works Cited
Brisco, Elise. “Lizzo and Cardi B Fire Back at ‘Rumors’ in Woman-Powered Anthem: ‘Haters Do What They Do.’” USA TODAY, July 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/08/13/lizzo-cardi-b-rumors-lyrics-haters-fcc/8119966002/.
Letterman, David. “My next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: Lizzo.” Netflix, 21 Oct. 2020, www.netflix.com. Accessed 1 Mar. 2022.
Lizzo. “Transcript of ‘the Black History of Twerking -- and How It Taught Me Self-Love.’” Www.ted.com, 2021, www.ted.com/talks/lizzo_the_black_history_of_twerking_and_how_it_taught_me_self_love/transcript?language=en.
Patricia Hill Collins. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York, Routledge, 1990.
---. On Intellectual Activism. Philadelphia, Pa., Temple University Press, 2013.
