SEATTLE — To address the correlation between sexism and poverty, actress Connie Britton wore a sweater that read “Poverty Is Sexist” to the Golden Globes earlier this year. Britton wore the sweater to bring awareness to the fact that women and girls who live in poverty-stricken areas are hit the hardest, and that giving women opportunities to thrive is key to fighting global poverty.
Connie Britton and the ONE Campaign were looking to bring attention to their cause by using a strong public platform. The “Nashville” star is a notable advocate of the ONE Campaign, which is a nonprofit organization that seeks to end extreme poverty and preventable disease worldwide, with a focus on Africa. The ONE Campaign has more than nine million members around the world, and its message is “we believe the fight against poverty isn’t about charity, but about justice and equality.” The organization has branches in Washington D.C., New York, London, Brussels, Paris, Ottawa, Berlin and Johannesburg.
The ONE Campaign has been very successful in its advocacy. The organization has supported development assistance, which has increased globally by $35.7 billion between 2005 and 2014. The ONE Campaign has also been instrumental in securing $37.5 billion for health initiatives as well as advocating for legislation that helps fight corruption and ensures more money from gas and oil revenues in Africa is used to help alleviate poverty.
In an article she wrote for Entertainment Weekly, Britton mentioned that the ONE Campaign has reported that educating every girl in sub-Saharan Africa to secondary school levels would be able to help save the lives of 1.2 million children. Connie Britton and the ONE Campaign believe that quality education is crucial to helping fight poverty because educated countries are more stable and wealthier. The piece serves as a call to action, urging the president along with other world leaders to invest in girls’ education on a global level.
In addition, Britton, along with fellow actress Robin Wright, delivered ONE’s open letter seeking action from the United Nations on addressing the global problem of the lack of education of girls. She also took part in ONE’s PSA calling for action on the Ebola crisis and collaborated with Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson of “2 Dope Queens” in ONE’s #GirlsCount video petition.
This year’s Golden Globes served as a major platform for activism. Connie Britton and the ONE Campaign addressing sexism and poverty was at the forefront alongside the Time’s Up movement. The message that many of the celebrities, including Britton, were sending that night is equality, which will lead to the betterment of the world.
– Blake Chambers
Photo: Flickr