Selah Marley – the daughter of Lauryn Hill and granddaughter of Bob Marley – has responded to criticism after she walked as part of Kanye West‘s Yeezy season nine presentation in Paris earlier this week, wearing, like West, a shirt that read “White Lives Matter”.
via: Complex
The 23-year-old is facing backlash over her involvement in Kanye West’s YZY SZN 9 presentation in Paris. Marley, who is a daughter of Lauryn Hill and granddaughter of Bob Marley, walked in the show while wearing Ye’s controversial “White Lives Matter” tee—a design being loudly blasted by activists, entertainers, fashion figures, fans, and more. Critics have said the slogan is a dismissive retort to the Black Lives Matter movement, which began as a protest against anti-Black violence and police brutality.
Many social media users slammed Marley for rocking the tee, suggesting it was a slap in the face to her family, which has spent years advocating for racial justice.
https://twitter.com/provocator237/status/1577081485185556480?s=20&t=Eiz3uUsvH-MbIBc9ZyxOQg
I absolutely expect this from Kanye but Selah Marley has disgraced the name and memory of her grandfather Bob Marley and everything her mother stands for. He was the world's Black freedom fighter. If you don't know her mother is the legendary Lauryn Hill. pic.twitter.com/70ODDFnhUR
— GarveyCare Integrated Solutions Team (@KhadijahManass1) October 4, 2022
Just two years ago Selah Marley ass was marching in them streets dodging bullets and choking on smoke grenades for George Floyd. Now she and putting on a “White Lives Matter” shirts for Kanye west. ?. I know Bob Marley flipping in his grave https://t.co/6JcO51xl83
— ?? (@BackOffTelly) October 3, 2022
Selah addressed the furor in a series of Instagram Stories posts Tuesday, claiming she would not be “bullied” into conformity.
“The past 24 hours has allowed me to realize that most of yall are stuck in a hive mind mentality,” she wrote. “You do what the group tells you to do & think what the group tells you to think. Witnessing someone break free from ‘the agenda’ sends you all into such a panic that you will do whatever it takes to force them back into the box that you feel they should exist in.”
She went on to add, “The victim becomes the victimizer. You can not bully me, manipulate me, or coax me into silence. Nor will you bully me into being who you want me to be. I don’t care how many tweets you make, DMs you send, or articles you write. Throughout all of the chaos, I have yet to speak on my experience. If you know me, you know that nothing I do is without deep thought & intention. Wait til you hear what I have to say.”
Marley also shared a screenshot of a text she recently sent to Ye. After acknowledging the negativity surrounding the tee, Marley proposed she and he “continue that conversation” to provide more clarity.
“I love taking risks & embracing freedom,” she wrote, “but in this case, I think we can continue to discuss the depth behind our decisions to show the purity of our intentions & provide healing to our community.”
She concluded the text, “Let’s keep this going—in a healthy way ??.”
Kanye—who sampled Lauryn Hill on Donda and happened to have a song called “Selah” on his prior album—reposted the screenshot to his Stories. Neither party has confirmed when—or if—the proposed conversation will take place. On Wednesday evening, Selah Marley circled back to share a photo with “N***as in Paris” playing in the background.
Also on Wednesday night, Ye continued the White Lives Matter justifications with a new pic of the shirt and the caption, “Here’s my latest response when people ask me why I made a tee that says white lives matter…THEY DO.”
His fellow shirt-wearer Candace Owens made sure to hit the replies with some laughing emojis.
