Pretty in Power

Celebrity activism at the height of its philanthropic impact

By Elena Golubovich Celebrities’ personal lives are known to the world due to constant spotlight and media coverage every day which can highlight their every movement. Many of them try to keep their lives private, but others use their image and status to support powerful causes. In the past, celebrities and superstars used to be shunned and told to mind their business or “only worry about what they’re good at.” Yet, as time went on, some celebrities started pushing back. Jane Fonda has been a Hollywood powerhouse and activist since the beginning of her acting career in the 60s. She’s been in the news most recently because of her peaceful protesting of the threat of climate change on Capitol Hill. After being arrested multiple times since September, to the point where she’s “lost count”, Fonda took her “Fire Drill Fridays” protests to Los Angeles. She’s been vocal about supporting the younger generation of activists and clearly puts her own safety on the line.

Emma Watson was a child celebrity who found fame through her acting role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies. Even as a young actress, Watson’s focus predicted an impactful image for her older years. After announcing her role as an UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, Watson worked to raise awareness for issues surrounding young girls’ education and the conversation of gender equality. While attending the 2018 Golden Globes Awards, Watson’s date was women’s rights activist Marai Larasi, who is the executive director of the black British feminist organization Imkaan. A fan of Watson and student at Ohio University, Corinne Rivers has followed Watson’s career since she was young. Of Watson’s position as a Goodwill Ambassador since 2014, Rivers spoke on the influence that the actress has on young women and equality on a global scale. “Since becoming an ambassador, she (Watson) has traveled to different countries: Bangladesh, Zambia, and she did humanitarian efforts to help with their economies,” says Rivers. “She’s done stuff with organic clothing and been an ambassador for so many different equality efforts and most of all, educating girls and getting women the gender equality that they need.” Jaden Smith, the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, celebrated his 21st birthday by opening a vegan food truck that serves meals to the Los Angeles homeless. As the son of Hollywood A-listers, you might expect him to grow up spoiled and entitled. Instead, Smith works to give back to the less fortunate, and the food truck was only a peek at his philanthropic work. He also works with a church group to bring clean water to residents of Flint, Michigan, where a contaminated water crisis has affected the town’s safety for over a decade. Akon might be best known as a powerhouse rapper in the 2000s and then seemingly dropped off the face of the celebrity world. However, for years now, the music producer has changed career tracks to focusing his efforts on humanitarian work in Africa. His first project, Akon Lighting Africa, began because he wanted to go on a global tour but many of the countries he wanted to perform in did not have the infrastructure or electrical power to support the concerts. As a result, the Senegalese-descended artist has created “100,000 solar street lamps installed across 480 communities in 15 countries, along with 1,200 solar micro-grids and 5,500 indirect jobs”, according to an article by Forbes. Now, Akon is focusing his efforts on creating a sustainable and futuristic city in Senegal with its own digital currency and environmentally-friendly infrastructure as its basis. These celebrities are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to activism and philanthropic efforts all over the globe. Despite some public opinion that celebrities should “stay in their lane,” many still use their image and status to benefit those less fortunate. Luckily for communities all over the world, these celebrities and many more have pushed against that belief to bring goodwill and progress to areas which are normally neglected by political authority figures.