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Nia Miranda

Source: @Nia_Miranda / Nia Miranda

On Sunday, May 31, protestor and self-described “artivist,” Nia Miranda made headlines on TMZ for confronting two white women vandalizing a Starbucks building with ‘BLM.’ After Nia called out the two white protestors for tagging on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement, it didn’t take them long to flee the scene once she told them how their poor decisions would reflect upon the peaceful protestors of color and their lack of consideration for our cause. We had the chance to speak with the Detroit native about the shift in the Black narrative for the worse, the impact on Black businesses and her initial thoughts during the encounter.

To be honest, I am not sure if they were white or not, but what I do know is they were not black,” Nia tells HelloBeautiful about her initial encounter with the taggers. “When I saw them, I had just finished running from the police who had invaded the peaceful protest firing rubber pellets and tear gas. To just come from that and see two non-black perpetrators spraying ‘BLM’ on a building had me hot. I knew I had to say something to them. The cops would feel justified attacking us based on the result of the actions of those two women.”

When it comes to our history and the money that comes into and out of our community, Nia says, “I believe when our backs are against the wall history has shown that is when we as a people thrive. Unlike our less melanated friends, we have always turned trials into triumphs. It is time we take back ownership of the black dollar, culture, and talents and use it to bring our community together.”

Unfortunately, that one Starbucks is not the only business that’s been impacted by the looting, rioting and vandalism as a result of rage in the Black community from senseless murders and police brutality. Nia notes that she has taken notice of some Black-owned businesses being vandalized, but most times not by our own community.  “I don’t want anyone in the black community to lose anything else. I think we have lost enough,” the actress expresses. 

“What I will say is most businesses have insurance, which means they can usually get back what they once had. However, we can never get George [Floyd] or any other names we fight for back. America cares more about businesses than Black people and that is scary.” 

White supremacist have used the riots and looting to shift the narrative from the peaceful protests while turning a blind eye to their fellow alt-righters masked as #BlackLivesMatter allies. “This is not the time to push your agenda. This is not your movement,” Nia says to white supremacists who are forcing their agenda during these unfortunate times.

“We are fighting for the injustice of the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other names. The Black community has been fighting for freedom and against brutality for over 400 years. White Supremacists will NOT slow us down nor get in our way.”

While media outlets continue to falsely report all Black people are violently rioting, throwing Molotov cocktails and breaking curfew, she believes that the work that herself and her friends have done is slowly bringing the narrative back to positivity for the Black community. Nia told HelloBeautiful, “I would like to think what my friends and I did has shifted not just the way the media views the Black Lives Matter movement but evolved the documentation of this movement as a whole. I have hundreds of Instagram DM’s of people now using their phones to record infiltrators who are attempting to sabotage the movement.”

As she quoted spoken-word artist and author Gil Scott-Heron’s infamous quote, “the revolution will be televised,” Nia remixed it into “the revolution will be televised by us.” She continues to express her sadness and disappointed that in order for the truth to come out, we have to work double-time to record it. “But that’s just the times we live in,” Nia added.

Since the escalation of protests and rallies in Minneapolis, Nia expresses happiness to have her own hands-on experience with the #BlackLivesMatter movement. “I remember the media in twin cities coverage showing a completely different narrative than what I experienced. The BLM protest was the most beautiful experience I have ever had,” the Bringing Love Back founder admits to HelloBeautiful. 

“It was extremely inclusive. There was an equal amount of black supporters as there were non-black supporters. I saw real allies, I marched with a 73-year-old woman of Asian descent and hugged and shared stories. This BLM movement has done more to bring the community together than the police and that says a lot.”

Nia believes that Black people have been the most forgiving community, and “choosing to forgive time and time again.” She continues to express her belief in if Black and brown communities create peace and love within ourselves, we can successfully share that same energy with the world, as opposed to “being a broken community that is trying to get the world to see us as whole.”

“We are a people of compassion continuously opening our hearts, our home and our culture even to those who have done us wrong,” Nia shares as words of wisdom. “America cannot continue to profit off of us, our skills, our talents and our likeness, and then not stand up for us in our pain, devastation and tragedy. It is time we come together as one use our resources to create the world we want to live in. We are the most resilient community.”

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