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On Sunday, April 4, Rihanna went incognito protesting against AAPI hate in New York City. Rihanna’s assistant, Tina Truong, captured their experience, from making posters together to mingling with fellow protesters on Instagram. “This is what solidarity looks like! #stopaapihate #stopasianhate #callitahatecrime,” Truong captioned a photo dump, including a video of Rihanna dancing in the street during the protest holding a ‘Stop Asian Hate’ sign. Truong also posted a photo on her Instagram Story of Rihanna bent over a large, bright-green poster board, writing bold, capital letters, “Hate = racism against God!”
In case you’re wondering how Rihanna was able to slip by undetected, we’re guessing it had a lot to do with her lowkey outfit: a gray sweater, a leather bomber jacket, leather pants, a black face mask, black sunglasses, and a baseball cap. Truong later posted a video to her Story showing a protestor asking Rihanna to put her Instagram handle into the protestor’s phone. “That’s you?” the protester asked after Rihanna pulled up her account, which has nearly 94 million followers. Truong wrote over the video, “When Rih gives you her IG handle but you think she trolling.”
what happened yesterday in Atlanta was brutal, tragic & is certainly not an isolated incident by any means. AAPI hate has been rampantly perpetuated & it’s disgusting! I’m heartbroken for the Asian community & my heart is with the loved ones of those we lost. The hate must stop. pic.twitter.com/rkxZDnxG9E
— Rihanna (@rihanna) March 18, 2021
In March, following the news a white gunman, Robert Long, 21, was charged with the murder of eight people — most of them women of Asian descent — at three Atlanta-area massage parlors, Rihanna spoke out across her social media accounts, writing: “what happened yesterday in Atlanta was brutal, tragic & is certainly not an isolated incident by any means. AAPI hate has been rampantly perpetuated & it’s disgusting! I’m heartbroken for the Asian community & my heart is with the loved ones of those we lost. The hate must stop.”
Rihanna has routinely used her platform to spread political awareness, including calling out the United States government. Earlier this year, Rihanna celebrated our new president with a photo of herself taking out the trash on Twitter and captioned it, “I’m just here to help” with the hashtag #wediditJoe. And then, there was the time back in 2018, when a troll tried to come for Bad Gal Ri Ri’s political activism when she encouraged her Instagram followers to register to vote. Don’t worry, she shut that down fast. “#VOTE … simple!!! You have no excuse and If you live in any of these states it’s not too late to register today!! C’mon man, LETS GO!!!!!,” she wrote. The troll replied, “are you even a US citizen? Honest curiosity.” Rihanna succinctly got the person together. “Nah. I’m an immigrant tryna get yo country together. Did u vote?,” she said.
We love a bad gal (heh) with a good heart.
