The Inclusivity and Kindness of Harry Styles

Rachel Torres, Scoop Writer

Harry Styles is a musical icon. Many say he is the modern day Mick Jagger or Freddy Mercury. He has two amazing albums out currently, ‘Harry Styles 1’ and ‘Fine Line’. For his ‘Fine Line’ album, Styles actually won the ‘Pop Solo Performance’ for the song ‘Watermelon Sugar’. Harry Styles is currently on tour at this moment, and almost all of his shows are sold out. Styles has a huge fan base, which many root from his ex-band that got him started called “One Direction”.

The band “One Direction” was a world phenomenon group consisting of 5 boys. The boys got put together as a band on the show “The X Factor”. Each member of the band auditioned as solos, and were said to be put as a band together in 10 minutes. The group of boys consisted of Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne. The group went on to be extremely successful and decided to take a break in 2015, since then they had all moved onto solo careers. Now in 2021, Harry Styles has been on tour and it is a hit. I was fortunately able to attend Styles’ concert for his current tour on November 3rd, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Many who attended the “Harry Styles: Live on Tour” concerts have described the night as ‘the best night of their lives’, and this includes myself. The energy in the stadium was something I have never experienced before. It was filled with positivity and love. You could tell everyone was thrilled to be there. I have been to concerts where half the audience would not get up and dance, but that was not like Harry’s. Everyone was having the time of their lives. 

During the opening act, an artist named Jenny Lewis stole the crowds’ hearts away. When she would sing, the crowd multiple times would throw their flashlights on to show their support. Everyone who attended the concert was filled with support, and you could tell everyone was just happy to be there. 

Harry Styles is an amazing performer. He understands how to work a crowd and how to keep one interested. I have been to many concerts, but this one was different. Harry did not need huge fireworks and crazy back up dancers to make the show fun, he and his band just had to be themselves, and that was enough. Harry and his band had such amazing chemistry that it truly made the show. Another amazing thing Styles’ would do was interact with the crowd and make people feel included.   

Harry has a moment during the show where he takes time to read the signs fans would make. One fan in the pit had a sign that stated “My mom is in section 201, help me come out to her”. When he read this sign he told the crowd to put their hands down unless it was her mother. Harry ran around the entire stage just to find the mother. Once he found her mother, he ran back to her and asked if she would like to say it or if he should. She announced she would rather he would announce it so he screamed into the microphone “Lisa… She’s gay!” The crowd went wild, the mother was ecstatic while everyone was just thrilled. Everyone cheered and later in the show Harry ran around the stage with the bisexuality flag and a pride flag fans gave him. 

Little moments like these show the true kind spirit that lives in Harry Styles. His entire brand is based on ‘Treating people with Kindness’ and he even has a song about it. At all of his shows he continues to make the entire crowd feel appreciated. He also has a past of kindness. He spreads support for cancer patients, gender equality, animal rights, LGBTQ+ Ally and he tends to donate his profits from his tours. After his first solo tour he raised 1.2 million dollars which he donated across 62 different charities around the world. He also attended Black Live Matter protests and even called out his own privilege. A quote from his twitter:

“I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white.

Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist.

Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. 

I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting.”

Having a celebrity be able to call out their own privilege may seem as a bare minimum, but as a person of color this is huge. Many celebrities tend to guilt trip others and paint their lives out as they have no privileges to gather sympathy. Harry admitting he is aware of his privilege and then using it to spread awareness shows the truly amazing person he is.

Harry Styles, the fun loving Aquarius artist is also an amazing human being, with such a flourishing personality and career. Harry knows how to work a show and people.

Throughout his journey he continues to spread kindness and continues to spread love to his fans.