Leigh-Anne from Little Mix launches Charity for the Black Community following BBC documentary on racism

[Slayer]

Leigh-Anne's documentary has aired and it has received critical acclaim, at the end of the documentary she announced that she has launched a charity 'The Black Fund'.

 

 

Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock has embarked on a very personal journey for her new BBC documentary, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power.

During the one-hour film, Pinnock will open up about her own experience as a mixed race woman in the music industry, where she often felt like she was being treated differently to her bandmates, Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirwall and Jesy Nelson – who has now left the group – due to the colour of her skin.

She’ll also speak to other Black or mixed women in the industry, including former Sugababes member Keisha Buchanan, Alexandra Burke and British singer-songwriter Raye. The documentary also features her bandmate Jade Thirlwall.

While the documentary delves deep into issues surrounding racism, Leigh-Anne says there’s still more to be done, and she won’t “stop” until she sees significant change.

Speaking to press including RadioTimes.com, she explained: “I feel like we’re on our way and there are initiatives that Sony have started, so I hope to see a change, because it’s not fair and it’s not the way it should be, and I’m not going to sit down and not say anything like I did for so many years – that was my normal, and it’s not normal. Something has to change with it so I’m going to keep going until I see that change.”

While Leigh-Anne feels that improvements are definitely being made when it comes to racial equality, she wants to encourage what she defines as “active change.”

She added: ” I want to see more diversity. And I want to actually see people actively making a change and not just talking about it.”

Leigh-Anne rose to fame in 2011 when she became one quarter of Little Mix on The X Factor, which the group went on to win.

Since then, the girls have gone onto become one of the most successful girl groups, touring internationally and releasing several UK number one singles.

Speaking of how the other girls reacted to her upcoming documentary, the singer – who is expecting her first child with her fiancé, footballer Andre Gray – said: “They have been super supportive. I’ve been really lucky to have them especially Jade. I think throughout my journey, having someone to talk to and actually understand  how I’ve  I’ve been feeling is so important. I don’t really know what I would have done without the girls to be honest.”

She added: “I remember our trip to Brazil. For the first time in my career, I saw a Black audience. I loved that I was getting that and I felt like I belonged and it was just mind blowing to me. I’ve never ever experienced anything like that in my Little Mix journey, so I remember coming off stage and just sitting down with Jade and I was hysterical and like, ‘Why, why only now am I feeling this love after 10 years?’. It’s just crazy.”

Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power will stream via BBC Three from 6am on Thursday, 13th May and will also air on BBC One at 10pm on the same day.

[HeavenOnEarth777]

Just an FYI Keisha is a current Sugababes member and the original lineup of the group are readying new music as we speak 

[Sea flower]

thank you for sharing! I am looking forward to watch it, hopefully i will find a link somewhere :)

[Alestaos]

That's gonna be a interesting watch!

I'm proud of what Little Mix are bringing to light, impowering ***uality, discussing mental health, calling out bullies and now their talking about race as a factor.

This is great!

 

[Slayer]

1 hour ago, HugoJean said:

Just an FYI Keisha is a current Sugababes member and the original lineup of the group are readying new music as we speak 

I didn’t write the article 

I wish it was Sugababes 2.0  

I’m glad Keisha is in this doc, it’d be interesting to see how her experiences of being a person of colour in a band in the 2000s compared to Leigh-Anne as a person of colour in a band in the 2010s.

[Slayer]

29 minutes ago, Alestaos said:

That's gonna be a interesting watch!

I'm proud of what Little Mix are bringing to light, impowering ***uality, discussing mental health, calling out bullies and now their talking about race as a factor.

This is great!

 

It’s amazing 

Shes been working on this documentary for a while aswell, she was definitely working on this atleast 6 months before the BLM movement.

[SloppyToppyGoddess]

I dont know if other singers will speak in the documentary but I think if she had Normani of Fifth Harmony speak on the subject, it would be amazing. They both went through such similar experiences.

[Oprah Winfrey.]

45 minutes ago, SloppyToppyGoddess said:

I dont know if other singers will speak in the documentary but I think if she had Normani of Fifth Harmony speak on the subject, it would be amazing. They both went through such similar experiences.

Yeah I would definitely want to hear about some racist things that were said to normani and I believe little mix and 5h had the same management, they also were both under Simon who I bet viewed both the girls as “diversity hires”

[Slayer]

On 5/10/2021 at 11:53 PM, SloppyToppyGoddess said:

I dont know if other singers will speak in the documentary but I think if she had Normani of Fifth Harmony speak on the subject, it would be amazing. They both went through such similar experiences.

Keisha from the Sugababes in the doc and a few other people - mostly UK artists

This interview just came out, Leigh is just amazing

 

 

[DavidURuiz]

I have so much respect for these girls using their voices for important topics besides just releasing music. They way they broke away from a toxic environment with their old label and took control of their own direction is so empowering. I'm so proud each time I see them release new stuff, whether it be music or other things. 

[DavidURuiz]

On 5/10/2021 at 6:53 PM, SloppyToppyGoddess said:

I dont know if other singers will speak in the documentary but I think if she had Normani of Fifth Harmony speak on the subject, it would be amazing. They both went through such similar experiences.

This would actually be great! I haven't read anywhere if she has any special guests, but I would love to see a whole documentary focusing on this topic with other black female members of girl groups. 

I could be wrong, but I never saw this as an issue with Mel B in the Spice Girls. I wonder if it was because her personality was so out there that it was hard to ignore her or if it's the fact that they fired their own management at the beginning and took control of their career (which is essentially what Little Mix did when they got rid of Simon and his management team.)

[Slayer]

13 minutes ago, DavidURuiz said:

I have so much respect for these girls using their voices for important topics besides just releasing music. They way they broke away from a toxic environment with their old label and took control of their own direction is so empowering. I'm so proud each time I see them release new stuff, whether it be music or other things. 

So true  These girls use their platforms to spread awareness for such important issues.

Leigh talked about racism she faced before and she broke down crying talking about it, she used to search 'black girl from little mix' on twitter just to see the hate. She has come so far, i'm so proud of her!

 

[Slayer]

She's absolutely amazing!

 

[FemmeFataleBrit]

Does anyone else think it’s wrong to have charities to only support black people? It’s like a white person having a white charity. If you wanna raise money and help people, help everyone. There are millions of people around the world who can benefit from it, not just black people.

[ObsessedBritFan1]

SUGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAABAAAABBBBBBBBBESSSSS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Invitation]

You go girl!!!  Her charity sounds amazing af