At the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, Sam Smith dominated, Pharrell got religious, and, according to Time magazine, Kim Kardashian took an “epic” selfie. It was par for the course in terms of celebrities celebrating themselves.
Breaking up the spectacle was a video of President Barack Obama that carried with it an important and incongruously serious message, one that will hopefully remain viral longer than Kristen Wiig‘s dance routine.
The PSA focused on domestic violence.
“Together,” the president said, “we can help change our culture for the better by ending violence against women and girls. Right now, nearly one-in-five women has been a victim of rape or attempted rape. More than one-in-four women has experienced some form of domestic violence. It’s not okay and it has to stop.”
Obama then called on the America’s artists to help “change minds and attitudes” by supporting It’s On Us, a national campaign to end sexual assault, and to encourage their fans to do so as well.
“It’s on us, all of us, to create a culture where violence isn’t tolerated, where survivors are supported, and where all our young people, men and women, go as far as their talents and dreams will take them,” the president said.
“It’s on us…to create a culture where violence isn’t tolerated”
Every 107 seconds, a person is sexually assaulted in America, over two-thirds of assaults are never reported to the police, and 98 percent of rapists will never see the inside of a prison. While sexual assault is on the decline, the U.S. is still suffering from an epidemic of sexual violence. There’s no other way to put it.
America’s leader delivered a powerful request Sunday night. It’s a call to action that everyone should do his or her best to get behind.
Screengrab via The White House/YouTube
