On Wednesday June 10, a campaign called #ShareTheMicNow was launched on Instagram. 

Reaching a total of 300 million followers, 46 Black women activists took over the Instagram pages of 46 White women celebrities for three days in an effort to amplify the voices of Black women and highlight the important work that they’re doing. 

Share The Mic Now was organized by Endeavor chief marketing officer Bozoma Saint John, author/podcast host Luvvie Ajayi Jones, author and Together Rising founder Glennon Doyle, and Alice + Olivia founder Stacey Bendet. 

“When the world listens to women, it listens to white women. For far too long, Black women's voices have gone unheard, even though they've been using their voices loudly for centuries to enact change. Today, more than ever, it is NECESSARY that we create a unifying action to center Black women's lives, stories, and calls to action,” reads the mission statement of the campaign. 

Some of the Black women that participated were academic, writer, and lecturer, Rachel Cargle, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, Opal Tometi, U.S Olympic fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad, and founder of the Me Too Movement, Tarana Burke. 

Some of the White women that participated were actress Sarah Paulson, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, author Brené Brown, and singer, dancer and actress, Julianne Hough. 

Cargle took over Paulson’s Instagram to explain that she doesn’t want “love and light” from anyone unless it is accompanied by genuine “solidarity and action.” 

She reposted her own words from Facebook, where she discusses her exhaustion with White people constantly being shocked by racism that ends up in the news. 

She doesn’t want to hear people say “I can’t believe this happened,” or “this can’t be real.” 

Instead, she would rather see White people take real action in response to racism, like donating to an organization, bringing up the topic in conversation at work or at home, or educating themselves more about it. 

Fashion and beauty editor, Kahlana Barfield Brown, took over actress Julia Robert’s Instagram to call attention to the disparities in maternal healthcare for Black women. 

Brown wrote about how Black women are more likely to die during childbirth and that Black infants are two times more likely to die before their first birthday. 

She then gave the audience a few places to start to make change, writing that we need to dismantle racism in our social circles, show up and listen to Black people with compassion, and follow and support causes that are already doing the work. 

She told the audience to check out the list of Black doctors and organizations to follow in her Instagram stories. 

Certified leadership and professional development coach, Jovian Zayne, took over the Instagram of singer and actress Mandy Moore and posted some questions for reflection. 

For her fellow people of color, she asked if their younger selves would be proud of the way they’re still protecting their joy. And to White people, she asked if their younger selves would be proud of the role they are playing in this fight. 

Black women have been doing important anti-racist work for years, but they are often overlooked. 

Teaming up with famous White women was a brilliant idea to get their work out there and educate people further on what’s going on and what needs to be done for a more united future.