Lizzo and Missy Elliot (left to right) Photo credit: Bang Media
Lizzo has been showered with accolades and awards in 2022, and she magnanimously shared the stage so that underappreciated female activists can bathe in the spotlight as well.
After the Detroit-bred singer won the People’s Champion honor at the People’s Choice Awards, Lizzo brought up the mother of Breonna Taylor.
Lizzo, 34, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, also ushered up 17 other activists and then gave up the mic to her mother, Shari Johnson-Jefferson, who heaped effusive praise on her daughter.
“When I think of Lizzo the word champion comes to mind,” the matriarch began. “She’s a champion of others, she builds you up and she’s always in your corner. I should know because I’m her mother. Melissa has always been herself, 100 percent that chick and she has shown us all that we don’t have to conform to anyone’s standards in order to be happy, to be creative and to feel worthy. I know that Lizzo has literally saved lives.”
🎶 In case nobody told you today, you’re special 🎶@lizzo is your 2022 People’s Champion! 🌟 #PCAs pic.twitter.com/iwhfyiLFDo
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) December 7, 2022
Among the women activists that Lizzo had on stage with her included: a woman fighting for clean water in Flint, Michigan, a female fighting homelessness, and Tameka Palmer who founded the Breonna Taylor foundation.
The “Truth Hurts” singer explained that she was originally “on the fence whether I should accept, because if I’m the people’s champ, I don’t need a trophy for championing people.
“To be an icon is not about how long you’ve had your platform,” the artist continued. “Being an icon is what you do with that platform. And ever since the beginning of my career, I’ve used my platform to amplify marginalized voices.”
