Empire‘s Jussie Smollett often uses his platform to give voice to the voiceless.
While speaking with Plus, the actor revealed his thoughts on Trump’s impending presidency and why he advocates for social justice issues.
“I think that these are desperate times, desperate, desperate, desperate people. I’m not saying that every single Donald Trump supporter is a desperate person,” Smollett said, “No, actually I am. I am, but [he is] playing to people’s fears, fears of being less powerful.”
The next four years mean activists will need to be vocal and work harder than ever to make sure rights of marginalized communities aren’t trampled. Smollett, who volunteers with the Black AIDS Institute and worked for Artists for a New South Africa, sees advocating for social issues as a responsibility:
“It’s that it’s not about, ‘Why is it the artist’s responsibility?’ It’s, ‘Why is it the human being’s responsibility?’ If we fucked up this world, we gotta clean it up. It’s a human being’s responsibility.”
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.
He added: “So many times I’ve gotten … [asked], ‘Why don’t you shut up and stop talking about race? Don’t you have some acting to do?’ First of all, that’s all you’ve got? That’s a whack-ass shit you’re gonna say. And it’s just really interesting and I’ve heard that before, but that’s just not my point of view, because I don’t approach it as an actor, I approach it as a concerned person who is affected by it because it’s happened to me, it’s happening to my sisters and my brothers and humanity. I just feel like if people are listening to you, you should have something to say.”
Check out the full interview, here.