Normally a rainbow of colored gowns, the red carpet at the 2018 Golden Globes was powerfully uniform this year. Hundreds of celebrities wore black to the ceremony to stand with sexual assault survivors and show their support for the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.

“We feel emboldened in this moment to stand together in a thick black line dividing then from now,” Meryl Streep said in an interview with Ryan Seacrest.

When it comes to activism, celebrities have the most potential to be influential.

With their large following, financial resources and connections, celebrities can provide the support for citizens to enable change.

Having large social media platforms in addition to financial resources and power in the industry sets celebrities apart from other philanthropists, such as Bill and Melinda Gates.

Celebrities have the largest potential to effect change when their philanthropy goes beyond a faceless donation. For example, Nicki Minaj privately donated millions of dollars to children’s education. However, she would have had a much larger impact if she had spoken out more publicly about the importance of education. Ms. Minaj could have shown young people, especially young girls, that they can both love school and be bold and feminine like her.

In contrast, Reese Witherspoon spoke out about the #MeToo movement and her own experiences with sexual assault publically. She also donated large sums of money to help support assault survivors and utilized her connections to get lawyers for victims of sexual assault in developing countries. As a result, Ms. Witherspoon is now seen as one of the many faces of the #MeToo movement.

Celebrities can inspire peoples’ support by making a cause more accessible.

When celebrities speak out about something they believe in, it gives a face to the cause they are passionate about. Many people see celebrities as role models and will support whatever their idol advocates.

By expressing their concerns about an issue, celebrities are giving people with a story to tell a large platform through which they can be heard. The attention and financial resources that celebrities bring to an issue can help citizens jumpstart a social or political movement.

Celebrities are a powerful tool for citizen activism. With the #MeToo movement, celebrities’ activism has finally given the chance for the millions of sexual assault survivors to begin to be heard. Now, celebrities are speaking out about more issues such as gun violence.

Hopefully, the recent wave of activism from Hollywood will continue its momentum and spread to other issues.