--- description: Jordin Sparks opens up about why she needs to speak up about racial injustice and George Floyd's killing title: Jordin Sparks on Why She Had to Speak Up About Racial Injustice image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0389571cf1d2102/698a0fdd09208f3635416eaf/Jordin-Sparks-time-100-talks.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jun 29, 2020 # Jordin Sparks on Speaking Up About Racial Injustice and Police Brutality: 'The Fear Is Very Real' by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  In the past, singer Jordin Sparks says that she’s been hesitant to speak up about politics over a fear of being misunderstood. But in this moment, as the U.S. reckons with a culture of systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in police custody, she says, “it’s past time for me to say something and I have to step up.” In a TIME100 Talks discussion with executive editor Dan Macsai, Sparks said Floyd’s killing hit home. “It’s different now, because the fear is very real when Dana leaves the house,” Sparks said, referencing her husband, Dana Isaiah. “I don’t want him to get pulled over. That fear is very real, and it’s very real for a lot of families across America.” The _American Idol_ winner, who performed “Smile” and “Unknown,” also discussed why she decided to push back her next album’s release. “I just wanted to take time to really cultivate and make sure I’m doing this in the right way,” Sparks said. “To me it just really feels right… so I can really gather my thoughts on how I feel about it.” _This article is part of_ [_#TIME100Talks: Finding Hope_](https://time.com/collection/time-100-talks/ "undefined")_, a special series featuring leaders across different fields encouraging action toward a better world. Want more?_ [_Sign up_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/TIME-Talks-opt-in/?source=article-t100-footer "undefined") _for access to more virtual events, including live conversations with influential newsmakers._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/"},"headline":"Jordin Sparks on Speaking Up About Racial Injustice and Police Brutality: 'The Fear Is Very Real'","datePublished":"2020-06-29T18:30:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:40:08.725Z","description":"Jordin Sparks opens up about why she needs to speak up about racial injustice and George Floyd's killing","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/","keywords":["TIME100 Talks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0389571cf1d2102/698a0fdd09208f3635416eaf/Jordin-Sparks-time-100-talks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0389571cf1d2102/698a0fdd09208f3635416eaf/Jordin-Sparks-time-100-talks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100-talks/","name":"TIME100 Talks"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/","name":"Jordin Sparks on Speaking Up About Racial Injustice and Police Brutality: 'The Fear Is Very Real'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Jordin Sparks Performs \"Unknown\"","description":"Jordin Sparks Performs \"Unknown\" for TIME100 Talks","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/025E5IEi/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-06-29T17:05:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/025E5IEi.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/","duration":"PT3M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Jordin Sparks Performs \"Smile\"","description":"Jordin Sparks Performs \"Smile\" for TIME100 Talks","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CQTWebsL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-06-29T18:14:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CQTWebsL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/","duration":"PT1M24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-talks/5860062/jordin-sparks-george-floyd-protests/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```