Daily Times

Jennifer Lawrence has stunned the world by announcing a break from acting to focus on something of grave importance to her. She will be taking time off from the rolling cameras and flashing lights to channel all her energy into engaging the youth of today in politics.

“I’m going to take the next year off. I’m going to be working with this organisation as a part of Represent.Us, trying to get young people engaged politically on a local level,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

Represent.Us is a non-profit, nonpartisan organisation which sums up itself and its goal with a one-liner that says, “We bring together conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.” It was founded in November 2012.

The Hunger Games star has, on several occasions, lent her voice to quite a few political issues. Just last month, she was seen taking part in the Women’s March alongside other prominent Hollywood women such as Adele and Cameron Diaz, the experience of which she shared on her Facebook account.

Lawrence indicated that she was inspired to enter the world of political activism after the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein saga. She is motivated to use her stardom to raise consciousness amongst the next generation and has also founded the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation to back charities that help youngsters and boost awareness and involvement with the arts.

“It’s not easy to speak out. It’s not easy to face criticism on a global scale. But the fact is, I have been given a platform and if I don’t use it, then I don’t deserve it,” Lawrence said when presented with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award last December.

Published in Daily Times, February  20^th 2018.