Lizzo was terrified to drive as a teenager because she got pulled over by police officers so many times.
The “About Damn Time” singer, who grew up in Houston, Texas, recalled to Vanity Fair magazine how she was constantly on-edge while driving because she had so many encounters with law enforcement.
“The police were right behind you. They follow you all the way home,” she remembered. “I stopped at every Stop sign, I’m smiling, being pleasant, I tried to do everything right. And they follow you home, then they veer off and they’re laughing. I’ve been pulled over, I’ve been handcuffed…. They do ‘Licence and registration, okay, everything looks good, you’re good to go.’ ‘Ma’am, can you just step out the vehicle real quick?'”
The 34-year-old also addressed the state of U.S. politics and described herself as “a chronically disappointed optimist” because she feels there has been no progress in the way Black women are treated.
“The way Black women have been treated in this country has made me feel very hopeless,” Lizzo shared. “I don’t think there was a time when (we) were treated fairly and with respect. If I see hope in this country, it will come from the accountability of the people who have the privilege. As a fat Black woman, this country has never gone forward; it’s stayed pretty much the same for me.”
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which allows states to make abortion illegal, in June, Lizzo donated $500,000 to Planned Parenthood and the National Network of Abortion Funds.