Jordin Sparks is done being ‘afraid to offend people’ while sharing feelings on systemic racism

Jordin Sparks is speaking out about her perspective on Black Lives Matter and systemic racism.

The Tattoo singer, 30, chatted with Joe Madison on his SiriusXM show on Tuesday, in which she also addressed her past hesitation to speak out about issues that are important to her.

‘It just got to a boiling point,’ Sparks said about her impetus to attend a Black Lives Matter protest a few weeks ago, and speak out about it. ‘I can’t take it anymore, I have to do something.’

‘It was definitely the conversations I had with my husband,’ Jordin continued, ‘and also thinking and knowing that that could have been my dad. You know, that could have been my dad. That could have been my brother. It could have been my cousin. It could have been my husband.’ 

There, she was referring to George Floyd, and any number of black men who are the targets and ultimate victims of racial profiling and brutality on the part of police officers in this country.

‘To know that is a very, very, heavy, heavy weight to carry,’ Sparks added. ‘So it was the conversations that I had with my husband, thinking about my family, and also my son. Because I was out there so my son’s future can be better than this. It’s gotta be better than this.’  

And when asked whether she’s ever felt ‘pressured’ not to be political or speak out about important issues due to her status as a mainstream entertainer, the No Air songstress said that she had. 

‘I have to admit to you… I’ve always been one of those people that’s feared being misunderstood,’ Jordin shared. ‘I don’t like being misunderstood because I would never intentionally try and hurt somebody’s feelings, or try and offend anyone.’

‘I do have to be transparent – I have been nervous to speak on things, a lot of times throughout my career,’ she also said. 

‘But I feel like, this moment in time for me, especially being mixed, and especially having a black husband, and a son that the world is going to view as black as well… For me, it was just like, you know what? Basically, expletive this. F this. I can’t, I cannot, I just can’t, I cannot not say anything,’ Sparks explained. 

‘I have to say something. And that’s where I am at this point in my life. I just can’t be afraid to offend people anymore, or to be misunderstood.’

In the clip, the American Idol champion referenced her upbringing with a black father and white mother, and also mentioned several times her husband Dana Isaiah, to whom she’s been married since 2017.

The pair share an adorable baby boy, Dana Isaiah Thomas Jr., who turns three this year.