MIA recently ruffled some feathers online thanks to a recent Instagram Live session she held in which she voiced her opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. While the Ohmni creative most likely did not intend this as a specific drag against the Black community or the movement's values, she did explain why she doesn't feel like the movement aligns with her own values and interpretations of humanity and self.
"We are made in the likeness of God, which is not our body, which is not our skin tone, which is why I don't support BLM," M.I.A. remarked concerning Black Lives Matter. "Because that always perpetually tells you, 'Hey, it's about your skin tone. It's about all the suffering because of our skin tone.' No. The spirit is the spirit. And it's of God. And that is: we are made in the image of God. Our spirit is made in the image of God. It is way beyond our color of our skin, the sex and the gender and all off the bulls**t. What f***ing post code I live in, what my f***ing bank account says. All of that is secondary. All of that is what my mind is capable of creating. The prisons I'm able to build around myself, with my mind."
MIA Speaks On Black Lives Matter
This is not the first time that M.I.A. has expressed criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, although her previous concerns about wider cultural and sociopolitical solidarity aren't here this time around. Elsewhere, she has made a lot of other claims and statements as of late that have garnered some controversy as well, such as her allegation that Jay-Z told her to get plastic surgery. That particularly stirred the pot because the lawsuit against him for alleged sexual assault emerged just a few days later.
Meanwhile, M.I.A.'s issues with the Roc don't stop there, and they provide at least some possible context for why she might feel the way she does about Black Lives Matter, however unjustifiable or misguided this specific criticism may be. It's a complicated issue, but a universally spiritual connection doesn't necessarily cancel out legitimate systemic oppression.
