While President Donald Trump made it clear that he is not willing to outright condemn the racist actions of neo-Nazis and KKK sympathizers during a bizarre press conference at Trump Tower on Tuesday in which he doubled back to blame “both sides” for the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, Solange and John Legend loudly joined a chorus of artists who have vehemently spoken out against the politics of hate and division.
Before deleting her Twitter account Tuesday, Solange advocated for 22-year-old Takiyah Thompson to be freed from jail after the Carolina Central University student was arrested for helping to take down a Confederate monument in Durham, N.C. “What we go to do to get my new hero Takiyah Thompson free,” she wrote in a tweet that appeared on her account shortly before it was wiped.
Solange Knowles last tweet on twitter as of today pic.twitter.com/JJQznDGJ6j
— H.I.M. (@gayysian) August 16, 2017
The singer went further in an Instagram post — also reportedly since deleted — in which she got graphic about her feelings on self-preservation and Confederate monuments and fears for her 12-year-old son’s education. “Been trying to study myself,” she wrote according to screen grabs of the post shared by fans. “Been trying to practice self preservation during this time and not give racist ugly ass f–k bois who reek of citronella my energy so that I can preserve my spirit to perform this album. F– white supremacists. F–k Nazis. F–k your stale ass bland ass monuments.”
After Solange deleted her account, she posted this on Instagram pic.twitter.com/Z0AzuZK4ii
— petty labelle (@damourhaine) August 16, 2017
Legend joined Solange in outrage in a series of tweets early Wednesday morning in which the “Glory” singer made his feelings about preserving Confederate history crystal clear. “Think of how absurd and repugnant it would be to erect a memorial to Bin Laden in the middle of Ground Zero to ‘preserve history,'” he wrote. “The Confederacy was the villain. Get their statues out of our parks. They deserve no honor or reverence.”
Robert E Lee tried to destroy this country to preserve slavery. He doesn’t deserve a statue anywhere.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 16, 2017
Modern-day Germans could teach us a lot about remembering and denouncing our shameful past.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 16, 2017
Think of how absurd and repugnant it would be to erect a memorial to Bin Laden in the middle of Ground Zero to “preserve history”
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 16, 2017
Preserving history doesn’t require us glorifying the villain.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 16, 2017
The Confederacy was the villain. Get their statues out of our parks. They deserve no honor or reverence.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 16, 2017
This article first appeared on Billboard.com
