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Willow Smith looks back at the ‘intense hate, racism & sexism’ her mom Jada Pinkett Smith faced
Willow Smith recently opened up about the racism her mom Jada Pinkett Smith tackled when she was singing. Scroll down to see what she said.
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s daughter Willow Smith recently opened up about the racism Jada faced back in the day. The 20-year-old "Lipstick" artist, recently spoke to L'Officiel and got candid about the "intense racism and sexism" she saw her mom face as a kid. Willow’s recollection is from when she accompanied Jada on tour with her nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom as a kid. "My mom got so much hate," Willow said.
"It was intense racism and sexism, just packed on to the tens," she continued. "People giving her death threats, throwing glass at her onstage. Some crazy stuff went down when she was touring with her band." "I got to see that hate firsthand," she said. "It was so scary to me, and I think I internalized a little bit." "Every time I feel that coming on, I just go back to my memories of my mom and how she would deal with actual physical danger—she just rose above it," Willow added. "Obviously, she was scared. But she really showed me what 'womaning up' really was, by taking a stance and not being afraid of other people's judgements and perceptions. I really wanted to just go within that place in myself and try something new, regardless of what my insecurities were."
Willow recently reunited Wicked Wisdom, filling in for her mom as frontwoman, as she surprised Jada with a Mother's Day performance. "When I was, I wanna say about 3 or 4, I went on tour with my mom and her band Wicked Wisdom," Willow said during the special Red Table Talk episode. "Wicked Wisdom was lit. This is the music that I grew up around. My mother was superwoman, she was a rock star, warrior and nurturer all in one. So unapologetically badass. She was a rock star, and I was living for Wicked Wisdom."
With her upcoming album Lately I Feel Everything, featuring collabs with Travis Barker and her "idol" Avril Lavigne, Willow hopes to foray into heavy metal and ultimately bring more Black representation to the genre. "I just wanted to fulfill that desire that I had ever since I was 10 or 12 of singing rock music, of being a Black woman singing rock music," she told the magazine.
ALSO READ: Will Smith's daughter Willow Smith says she's polyamorous on mum Jada Pinkett Smith's talk show
