Musicians lead call for constructive response to share helpful information among those moved by George Floyd death, rather than posting millions of black squaresGeorge Floyd protests: latest developmentsLizzo and Lil Nas X have condemned a
music industry-sponsored
Social Media movement to suspend business activities in support of global
protests sparked by the death in
police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
On 2 June, the #BlackoutTuesday hashtag, accompanied by images of black squares, dominated social media, flooding
Instagram and
Twitter feeds. What was started by Jamila Thomas, a senior director of marketing at Atlantic Records, and Brianna Agyemang, a former Atlantic executive, “in observance of the long-standing
racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard” under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused quickly became co-opted by celebrities, brands and individuals.