The #ShareTheMicNow campaign on June 10 is underway, with famous white women handing over their social media platforms to black women for the day in an effort to expand the reach of black women's voices.
A promotional post for the event shared on Instagram by one of its participants, former TODAY anchor Katie Couric, explains that Share the Mic Now is meant to address the problem that "when the world listens to women, it listens to white women."
"For too long, Black women's voices have gone unheard, even though they've been using their voices loudly for centuries to enact change," the post continued. "Today, more than ever, it is NECESSARY that we create a unifying action to center Black women's lives, stories and calls to action. We need to listen to Black women."
The campaign comes amid worldwide protests over racial injustice, prompted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
White stars who will be handing over their platforms for the day range from journalists, like Couric, to politicians, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, researcher Brené Brown, actresses including Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank and Julia Roberts, athletes Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan and reality star Kourtney Kardashian.
Some of the black women who will be taking over these accounts include former Teen Vogue editor Elaine Welteroth, "I'm Still Here" author Austin Channing Brown, Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, author and professor Brittney Cooper, tech and transgender rights activist Angelica Ross, acting president of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson, and #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, among others.
There are 46 white and 46 black participants in total.
#ShareTheMicNow was created by Saint John, author and podcast host Luvvie Ajayi Jones, author and Together Rising founder Glennon Doyle and alice + olivia founder Stacey Bendet. The organizers shared four specific goals of the project, per The Hollywood Reporter.
These are: "To form a social media campaign that magnifies Black women’s lives and stories. To form relationships among Black women and white women — so that our future activism is born from relationships. To create a network of disruptors who know and trust each other. To create action that could make change."
The founders also are encouraging non-celebrities to "recreate this action" in their own lives and use the hashtag #KeepSharingTheMic. Follow along on June 10 with #ShareTheMicNow.