NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: (L-R) Jimin, Jungkook, RM, J-Hope, V, Jin, and SUGA of the K-pop ... [+]
BTS fans are no strangers to breaking records. Known collectively as the BTS ARMY, they have propelled the Korean pop septet to historic album sales, massive video premieres and lightning-fast concert sellouts. This weekend, the BTS ARMY threw its might behind a social justice initiative, matching—and ultimately surpassing—the group’s $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter.
The boy band made the donation last week, Variety reports. On Wednesday, BTS expressed its support for Black Lives Matter on Twitter, writing, “We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together. #BlackLivesMatter.” The statement has been retweeted nearly 1 million times.
On Saturday, the BTS ARMY began trending #MatchAMillion, imploring fans to donate what they could. The fan-led charity collective One in an ARMY created an ActBlue card that tracked donations and allowed donors to split their money between 16 groups, including the Black Lives Matter Global Network, National Bail Out, NAACP and the Marshall Project.
Less than 24 hours after One in an ARMY tweeted the link to its donation card, more than 34,500 fans had banded together to raise over $1 million. The card is still live, and more than 38,000 fans have donated over $1.14 million so far.
“Just like BTS, we were able to donate 1M dollars to help fund: bailouts for those arrested for protesting police brutality, black-led advocacy orgs fighting against systemic injustice, support for the physical and mental health of the black community,” the organization tweeted.
The massive Black Lives Matter donation is just the latest of several displays of solidarity from the BTS ARMY and other K-pop fandoms over the past week. K-pop fans previously hijacked the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter and Instagram, drowning out racists with memes and short K-pop videos, known as fancams. They similarly overwhelmed the Dallas Police Department’s iWatch Dallas app, which encouraged civilians to submit videos of protesters engaged in illegal activity.
In the past, K-pop fandoms—particularly the BTS ARMY—have drawn both the awe and ire of other social media users for their nearly unmatched zeal. Many of the criticisms levied against them are reductive at best, and racist and sexist at worst. But the BTS ARMY’s staggering Black Lives Matter donation demonstrates the power of music fandoms to effect positive change on a global scale. BTS has long sung about equality, mental health and self-love—and their fans have clearly taken those virtues to heart.
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