Carter SmithGlamour magazine picked none other than Alicia Keys as the cover star for its March Activism issue.
In the publication, the artist and activist talks about how both art and activism go hand in hand, while also giving a few examples of legendary artists whose music used both to create change in the world.
“They totally go together. You see it in the way Bob Marley spoke, how he chose his words through music. Nina Simone was so blatantly courageous. Even John Lennon wrote these songs about love that were so simple, timeless and powerful,” she tells Glamour.
“For a while I thought the two things were separate, because people told me they should be separate. But I think conveying the emotion of collective ‘we,’ something those artists were able to do, is pretty incredible. Especially in tumultuous times like we are in now,” she adds.
Alicia also shed light on her continued activism, like her Moonshot initiative, founded after the police shooting of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile last year.
“The project is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever been a part of, and it’s still developing. We had a lot support from the [Obama administration], but it’s a slow process. We’re not sure if the Trump administration will want to support this initiative, but we are beginning our own investment fund for African Americans with [CNN’s] Van Jones‘ organization, Dream Corps,” she says.
“I’m sensitive to other’s people’s feelings, which I think comes from my mother. She raised me; it was just her and I. She would drop jewels on me and call me on s***, like, ‘You know, it’s not all about you. What about how someone else might feel?’ And I think that’s the basis of activism: caring about more than just yourself.”
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