T.I. urged Black and Brown people to stand up for themselves like other communities do when they’re disrespected.
On March 28 actor George Clooney wrote an opinion piece for Deadline and urged people to boycott nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. That’s because on Wednesday, April 3, the leader of Brunei implemented new laws against the LGBTQ community in the tiny Asian country.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvxxfw0B0bA/
Under the new laws, the penalty for gay sex is death by stoning, and two women having intercourse could get either a decade-long prison sentence or be caned 100 times.
The hotels that are owned by the Sultan of Brunei are in cities like London, Paris, Rome, Beverly Hills, Calif., and another in Los Angeles.
Some of the celebrities who’ve followed Clooney’s lead and also called for a boycott include Ellen DeGeneres, former tennis pro Billie Jean King and Elton John.
On Tuesday T.I. posted an article about the boycott to his Instagram page and said Black folks need to ban together in the same way that Clooney, John and others are doing.
Tip also mentioned Gucci, which faced a huge backlash in February for a turtleneck sweater in its fall/winter collection that looked like blackface. Since then he’s called for a boycott of the Italian brand, as well as other labels who’ve also offended some in the Black community.
“See how people ride when you threaten THEIR CULTURE?!?!?!” he wrote. “All I ask is that WE (Young Black,Latino,HipHop culture) should take the SAME AMOUNT OF ACTION against those who oppose US as the LGBTQ 🏳️🌈, and Jewish communities take against those who oppose them!!!! THATs ALL I ASK!!!!”
“Stand UP FOR OURSELVES AND DEMAND RESPECT!!!! Quit asking for it!!!” added T.I. “WHAT POSITION SHOULD WE TAKE IF THEY STILL WEARING GUCCI,PRADA,BURBERRY,& MONCLER??”
In the comments, people shared all kinds of opinions but many agreed with T.I.’s stance.
“He said nothing but the truth,” one person wrote on Instagram. “In reality it seems like we hate each other so much that we can’t even stand for something that severely affects us.”
“He’s right,” wrote another. “That’s why we can’t excel as a community. The links are broken in so many areas!”
“We don’t know how to cause they tore us apart when they took us from our families,” a third person commented. “So our culture doesnt really comprehend loyalty.”
