Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC(SEOUL, South Korea) — K-pop celebrities have begun to express support for the Black Lives Matter movement online and their loyal fans are following suit.
Boy band BTS fan community ARMY, short for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth, raised over a million dollars in less than 24 hours, to match one million dollars that their idols donated.
.@BTS_twt fans match BTS’ one million dollar donation to Black Lives Matter.
You can download our release here : https://t.co/nbRz6BnYzh#BlackLivesMatter#ARMYMatchedAMillion#2MforBLM pic.twitter.com/kpKia6mBMq
— One in an ARMY⁷ Charity Project 💜 (@OneInAnARMY) June 8, 2020
Other K-pop celebrities supporting global protests against racism on social networks include BigBang member Taeyang, Girl band f(x) member Amber, and CL of 2NE1.
Taeyang posted on instagram “black lives matter,” with a hashtag “BlackoutTuesday.”
Johnny of NCT127 also uploaded a black square with the hashtag, “blacklivesmatter.”
Mark from boy band Got7 shared his donation to George Floyd memorial fund, saying “Stay strong, stay safe.”
Stay stong, stay safe. https://t.co/LTcHSQ5PhN pic.twitter.com/1hmoj2pxXj
— Mark Tuan (@mtuan93) May 31, 2020
“I believe when idols show public support to a movement, such as Black Lives Matter, dedicated fans will support as well,” Kami Rose, originally from Brooklyn New York now teaching at an elementary school in South Korea, told ABC News. Rose has been helping with spreading the word via Instagram.
Toni Creshell, who is helping to lead the Black Lives Matter movement in South Korea, told ABC News, “I applaud them and hope other artists take note.”
“Witnessing K-Pop and K-Hip-Hop artists supporting the Black Lives Matter movement is them acknowledging the presence and struggle of the black community within the industry that awarded them their celebrity,” Creshell said.
Creshell, who co-founded the Black Live Matter Facebook group in South Korea and helped organize online protests, explained that the music produced by black artists has a major influence on the K-pop and K-hip hop we know of today.
K-pop figures rarely express political comments in public but this time, stood alongside the Black Lives Matter movement.
“K-pop stars are known to be generally apolitical, shying away from making public comments,” Ha Jae-keun, a pop culture expert in Seoul, told ABC News. “That is why this time, their voice have a stronger say in the fan community.”
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