Respect politics won’t win the campaign – Essence

When Megan Thee Stallion took the stage to perform a couple of of her biggest hits at presumptive Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ first rally, the crowd at Georgia State University’s Convocation Center erupted with excitement. Dressed in a cropped blue pantsuit and surrounded by dancers, the “Hottie for Harris” frontwoman advocated for Madame VP as “our future president,” urging women who love their bodies — and wish to proceed to accomplish that freely — to vote for her in the election.

During her 7-minute set, the rapper performed short snippets of “Girls in the Hood,” viral hits “Mamushi” and “Body,” and her Grammy-winning single “Savage.” Rally attendees were spotted bouncing and swaying to the music and rapping along to her confident, body-positive lyrics—edited to match the surroundings, in fact—before hearing directly from Madame VP herself about her values, intentions, and a couple of alternative words for her opponent.

Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, has been a known pro-voting advocate for elections 2020 and vocal defender women’s body autonomy and freedom of alternative. It’s no surprise then that she used her voice and talent to support a Democratic candidate who has pledged to guard reproductive rights at the federal level if elected to office.

But the morning after the rally, the artist once more found herself the goal of respectability-based attacks, with unnamed social media users calling her appearance “inappropriate,” calling the rally itself “ghetto,” and accusing the superstar of twerking on stage in front of a presidential candidate (note: she didn’t). It’s no wonder that insults rooted in misogyny and self-critical anti-Blackness, akin to “this is why other races don’t take us seriously,” flooded the comment sections of platforms like Shadow Room AND Jasmine Brand.

Interestingly, we didn’t see many similar cries of impropriety when, just days later, Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump appeared on a Kick stream with controversial content creator Adin Ross, who was banned from Twitch after multiple incidents of hate speech and racial slurs, and entered the room to hearken to an unedited version of fifty Cent’s 2003 hit “Many Men.”

While social media debates proceed about the “damage” Megan’s temporary appearance could have done to Harris’ campaign — which has raised an estimated $310 million in donations in only the first ten days of her presidential campaign — or the damage it could have done to the fragile image of black America, those that attended the rally and were most directly affected by her public support have a distinct perspective.

“A lot of people were misled into thinking the rally was a concert or that the rally was a ‘pancake show’ for us,” Spelman College student and PR entrepreneur Brandy Merriweather told ESSENCE. “You had to RSVP to get into the rally, and they didn’t even advertise that Megan Thee Stallion wasn’t performing until 24 hours before. If you RSVPed 24 hours before, you got in.”

Merriweather and her friends and coworkers, whom she affectionately called the “Gen Z Hype Crew” at the rally since their enthusiasm went viral, are all college students who’re excited to vote of their first presidential election and all recurrently engage in politics.

“We were there because we wanted to see Kamala and hear about her politics,” Merriweather explains. “The fact that Megan Thee Stallion was there and did two TikTok dances was just a bonus.”

“My brother Morehouse Hasani was there, as were Parker and Royce, who are leaders of the Young Democrats of Georgia,” he explains. “So we created a little Gen Z row and we got to have a great time — and not just when Megan The Stallion was up there. We were just as excited about any politician who came up there and spoke.”

For Merriweather and plenty of young voters like her, politics are much more vital than political pomp and circumstance. In this present day and age, credibility allows candidates to do greater than honesty alone ever could.

“I think political balance is important,” he says. “I also think that if you are there for people, you also have to be credible. You also have to be able to express yourself to reach all types of people of different ages, experiences, students, etc.”

And for college students like her and the remainder of the Gen Z hype crew, Megan Thee Stallion’s presence at the rally had exactly the form of impact it was meant to have. Madame VP and her campaign committee appear to be cracking the code on how you can motivate people of all ages to run for president.

“Meg was one of the first stars to really speak out on women’s rights,” Merriweather says, noting that the star quickly stepped into the highlight and spoke out when Roe v. Wade was overturned and states began to limit and eliminate the right to decide on. “Also, for her, number one, being a woman and number two, being an HBCU student, she’s relatable to my demographic.”

“I hate to say it was just ‘electric,’ but it really was,” Merriweather said of the atmosphere at the rally. “I saw people of all ages, and that was one of the things that filled my heart. Usually when you go to a political space, you see a lot of older people, and this wasn’t like that.”