Bob Marley’s Granddaughter Selah Defends Wearing Kanye West’s ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt
Selah Marley, the granddaughter of the late King of Reggae Bob Marley, has responded to naysayers who have been dragging her for the last two days over her wearing of a Kanye West-designed “White Lives Matter” Shirt at the rapper’s Yeezy Fashion Show in Paris on Monday.
Selah, a fashion model, is the 23-year-old daughter of Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley.
One Twitter user, on Monday, described the move as “disgusting.”
“Kanye west making Black models wear ‘white lives matter’ shirts is a culmination of his anti-blackness and his immersion in white supremacy ideologies and methods. Disgusting,” they wrote.
Another wrote: “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.”
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
— Equality Solutions (@KhadijahManass1) October 4, 2022
Selah, however, hit back on Tuesday via her Instagram account, labeling her critics as narrow-minded and defending her stance by reiterating that her decision was conscious and she is unmoved by the negative slurs being thrown at her.
“The past 24 hours has allowed me to realize that most of yall are are stuck in a hive mind mentality,” she began.
“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 continued: “All morale & empathy is eliminated due to the fact that you feel justified by your emotions. 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 till you hear what I have to say.”
She took things up a notch by posting a screenshot of text messages she sent to West citing a need for further thought-provoking actions and conversations about the White Lives Matter movement.
“…you may be sleeping but I think that what we did has obviously created a lot of conversation & i would like us to continue that conversation & provide the necessary depth & clarity that we are both extremely capable of,” she told Kanye.
“I love taking risks & embracing freedom, but in this case, i think we can continue to discuss the depth behind our decisions to show purity of our intentions & provide healing to our community. love you so much. let’s keep this going—in a healing way. ♥️”
The American rapper and fashion guru subsequently reposted the story to stand in solidarity with Selah.
The White Lives Matter movement originated around 2015 as a racist counteraction to the Black Lives Matter movement that was popularised in 2014 for protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting death of Michael Brown at the hands of a Ferguson police officer.
The BLM movement intensified in 2020 when African American George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. Three other police officers looked on and prevented passers-by from intervening. Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison with the possibility of supervised release after serving 15 years.
Some fans are upset at Selah for playing on both sides of the fence. It is said that she too was a part of the mass Minneapolis protests held in Floyd’s honor.
“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” tweeted @TellyDuckThem.
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
— ⃤⃤T (@BackOffTelly) October 3, 2022
In 2015, Lauryn Hill was one of several entertainers who supported the Palestinian rights movement in Israel in a video titled “When I See Them I See Us”
Throughout the video, there are injections of #BlackLivesMatter.
Hill and Rohan Marley had five children together before they split in 2009.