A sea of black, last night at the Golden Globes we saw fashion statements turn political. In support of victims of sexual harassment and assault, actors wore black and spoke up in support of the TIME'S UP and #MeToo movements. The most exciting part? Some actors took the opportunity to bring activists as their date. Not letting awards or Hollywood gossip outshine the message, actors from Meryl Streep to Emma Watson gave their platform over to the women who have fought for gender equality long before #MeToo went viral.
So, what did they have to say? We’ve rounded up every activist on the red carpet and the powerful statements they used the opportunity to make…
Debrief Activists on Golden Globes red carpet
1 of 8Tarana Burke
A civil rights activist who started #MeToo in 2006, Tarana attended with Michelle Williams. On how the #MeToo movement has grown, she said:'It's deeply humbling, this is something I started out of necessity, something that I thought my community needed and its grown over the years but I never could've envisioned it growing like this. This moment is so powerful because we're staring at a standing at a collaboration between these two worlds that people don't usually put together and would most likely have us pinned against each other.'
2 of 8Marai Larasi
Director of Imkaan – an organization that fights violence against BME women - Marai attended with Emma Watson. On using the platform to highlight injustice, she said:'There's something about women in Hollywood speaking out, there is a wall of silence around violence against women and girls and every time someone speaks out it just creates a bit of a crack in that wall. We don't want to create hierarchies were we're saying women in Hollywood are more important than other women but were saying women in Hollywood have an opportunity to amplify the issues and to shine a light on things and actually that's incredibly important. It's a special moment in time, it's not the beginning of the struggle or end of the struggle but it is a critical moment so this is a fantastic platform and were trying to use it in the best way we possibly can.'
3 of 8Rosa Clemente
A Puerto Rican hip-hop activist and independent journalist, Rosa was vice presidential running mate of the Green Party to presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney in the 2008 US Presidential election. On her current project, she said:'My project Puerto Rico on the Map we just want to let people know that to this day half of the people on the island are still without power, 90% don't have access to clean water and women have stopped lactating because they don't have proper nutrition this is 3.5 million American citizens that this government has neglected almost 110 days after Hurricane Maria hit. Right now, I feel I'm speaking for the people of Puerto Rico that cannot turn on a TV.' On the need for men to join the movement: 'Our sisterhood is strong, it's always been strong, now we need men to be allies and accomplices in smashing sexual violence. It can't just be because you have a daughter or a mother, it has to be because we are human beings that deserve the right to dignity whether we're working on a Hollywood set or at Kentucky fried chicken, whether we're a mother in south Bronx or a mother in Beverly Hills.'Why was it only women doing all the emotional labour at the Golden Globes? We asked that very question.On the TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund: 'We need that because many women don't have money, we live in a society that is economically unfair to most people. What do you do if you are working two jobs and your sexually harassed all day, do you quit your job or do you feed your child? Do you quit your job or do you pay your rent? So, we need to be supporting women who are the most marginilized but also center them because they are the most powerful.'
4 of 8Ai-jen Poo
The director of the US National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-Jen attended with Meryl Streep. On what they hope to gain from this publicity, she said:'I hope people see the energy and the momentum and the fact that were uniting across all industries and all communities standing together saying we all deserve work places were we're safe and our work is valued and we can live and work with dignity, that's the future. We have momentum and we want to say to everyone that they should join us this is a movement where there's space for everyone and there's a role for everyone.'
5 of 8Mónica Ramírez
Head of the National Farmworkers Women's Alliance and the author of Time Magazine's letter of solidarity with women of Hollywood, Mónica attended with Laura Dern. On why she decided to write the letter, she said:'Farmworker women pick, pack and plant the food that we eat and have a long history of combatting work place sexual violence. When we learned about what was happening in Hollywood, our women felt very strongly that they wanted to send a message to women in this industry and all people that are experiencing sexual violence in the workplace. That they are not alone, that we stand with them and we lend them our power and our strength as they move through this difficult time. Part of our work as an organization is to fight for gender equality along all lines, so we fight for equal pay, we fight sexual harassment, we fight for equity, so that every person's voice will be valued and every person will have the opportunity to reach their full potential.'She also made this statement via Twitter:'Walking down the red carpet on behalf of my ancestors; my family; the hundreds of thousands of farmworker women in our nation; my community; the many organizers, advocates and lawyers; and all of those who paved the way for this movement.'
6 of 8Calina Lawrence
An activist and singer who uses themes of racial injustice, police brutality and misrepresentation of Native Americans in the media, Calina attended with Shailene Woodley.While she was not interviewed at the event, her message is prevalent in her music which you can find here. She is a member of the Suquamish Tribe and advocates for Native Treaty Rights, the "Water is Life" movement and the #NoLNG253 campaign led by the Puyallup Tribe. She walked with Shailene in support of solidarity and accountability on the imbalance of power between genders.
7 of 8Saru Jayaraman
President of Restaurants Opportunities Center United, Saru walked with Amy Peohler. Not only is she a lawyer and social justice activist, she has written two books, The New Urban Immigrant Workforce and Behind the Kitchen Door: The People Who Make and Serve Your Food. She stated:'I am here tonight in honor of the women servers, bussers, bartenders, runners, cooks, and hosts who experience the highest rates of sexual harassment of any industry in the country. Tipped workers in our industry earn a federal minimum wage of just $2.13 an hour from their employers, and must tolerate extreme harassment from customers in order to earn enough in tips to feed their families. Managers encourage these women to subject themselves to objectification in order to make more money in tips, and this makes them vulnerable to co-worker and manager harassment as well.'On why the theme for the night was black? She said, 'black is the most powerful color. Black is power. Women are powerful.'
8 of 8Billie Jean King
A tennis legend who founded Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, the Women's Sports Foundation and the Women's Tennis Association, she attended with Emma Stone. On what she hopes will come from the event, she said:'We're in solidarity standing up for people who've been abused and harassed. The industry is all together on this, I hope everybody will go to timesupnow.com and look at all the different group. We met with the activists yesterday from all the different organizations, it's amazing what they're doing and how they've invested in these people and to give everyone power. So, I hope everyone goes to the website and looks.'
Collectively, the women released a statement to ensure their message was not drowned in Hollywood gossip or awards-related drama:
“As longtime organizers, activists and advocates for racial and gender justice, it gives us enormous pride to stand with the members of the TIME'S UP campaign who have stood up and spoken out in this groundbreaking historical moment. We have each dedicated our lives to doing work that supports the least visible, most marginalized women in our diverse contexts. We do this work as participants in movements that seek to affirm the dignity and humanity of every person.
‘Too much of the recent press attention has been focused on perpetrators and does not adequately address the systematic nature of violence including the importance of race, ethnicity and economic status in sexual violence and other forms of violence against women. Our goal in attending the Golden Globes is to shift the focus back to survivors and on systemic, lasting solutions. Each of us will be highlighting legislative, community-level and interpersonal solutions that contribute to ending violence against women in all our communities. It is our hope that in doing so, we will also help to broaden conversations about the connection to power, privilege and other systemic inequalities.
‘Many of us identify as survivors of sexual harassment, assault and violence ourselves and we believe we are nearing a tipping point in transforming the culture of violence in the countries where we live and work. It’s a moment to transform both the written and unwritten rules that devalue the lives and experiences of women. We believe that people of all genders and ages should live free of violence against us. And, we believe that women of color, and women who have faced generations of exclusion – Indigenous, Black, Brown and Asian women, farmworkers and domestic workers, disabled women, undocumented and queer and trans women -- should be at the center of our solutions. This moment in time calls for us to use the power of our collective voices to find solutions that leave no woman behind.
‘This past year was a powerful one in the fight for gender equity and against sexual violence against women - from the Women’s March to the re-emergence of ‘me too’ as a viral hashtag that brought more than ten years of survivor-centered work to the mainstream. There is still much work to do, and many hands required to do it. We want to encourage all women- from those who live in the shadows to those who live in the spotlight, from all walks of life, and across generations- to continue to step forward and know that they will be supported when they do.
‘The #TIMESUP initiative joins an ever-growing collective of organizations, movements, and leaders working to end gender-based violence. We look forward to partnering with them and others to organize, support all survivors, and find solutions that ensure a future where all women and all people can live and work with dignity.’
With such a huge platform, the impact of what these activists could achieve for their chosen projects is unprecedented. For TIME’S UP in particular, all the political statements at the Golden Globes have led to almost $16million raised for the Legal Defense Fund, just $12,000 short of their goal. If you want to donate to the fund, click here.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.