Macklemore releases statement about cancelling concerts in UAE
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Macklemore had some concerts in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in October. For the past several months, Sudanese activists have campaigning and talking to Macklemore so he would cancel his concerts in Dubai because the UAE is being complicit in the genocide in Sudan right now. Yesterday, media outlets started to report that Macklemore was cancelling his concerts and today he released this statement.
He talks about the crisis in Sudan and how the UAE's funding of the RSF in Sudan is a major factor of the genocide. He also talks about how he'd be hypocritical for calling out politicians if he were to take money by performing in the UAE. He also talks about how we are being called to advocate for marginalized communities in the world right now and that we need to put aside our "luxury and abundance for the collective pursuit of freedom and safety for all." He also asks other artists "If we used our platforms to mobilize collective liberation, what could we accomplish?"
A super big shoutout to the Sudanese activists who helped pushed Macklemore to make this decision. Macklemore obviously has its faults, but it's nice to see that his is trying to follow through with his principles even if it costs him money.
If you want to follow the Sudanese activist who helped make this happen, her twitter is https://twitter.com/thisisNOTghaida. She has this great explainer about what's going on in Sudan and a call to boycott the UAE. She also has a link to https://www.sudanfunds.com, which provides a list of ongoing gofundme campaigns for people/organizations struggling in the ongoing genocide in Sudan.
If people have any more resources to support people in Sudan, please drop them in this post!!!
Also, I hope that this is not in the newer format.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Du-kVN09q/?img_index=1