BTS’s passionate, loving and supportive fandom, ARMY, spoke out against bullying and violence on Wednesday following reports that members of the fandom were being bullied by haters of BTS.
There were two stories that the fandom was made aware of. The first story involved a student ARMY being bullied by someone at university for being a proud ARMY. The bully, who claimed to be a member of another KPop group’s fandom, intentionally wanted to cause drama between the fandoms by attacking a proud ARMY. Regardless of her affiliation, the bullying was disgraceful, and ARMYs were quick to respond.
The second story involved an ARMY recently passing away. In response to this, antis of BTS made a joke about the ARMY’s death. This initiated ARMYs to trend the hashtag #EndViolence which is a key part of UNICEF and BTS’s campaign: The End Violence, Love Myself campaign.
Since the #EndViolence hashtag started trending, many ARMYs across the world began sharing their experiences of being bullied and mocked for being who they are and for being proud fans of BTS. This led to ARMYs sending positive messages of love and support to each other, reminding everyone that they are not alone.
The beauty of the events that followed is that ARMYs used the leader of BTS, Kim Namjoon’s recent speech at the United Nations as inspiration to “speak themselves”, meaning they talk about their experiences, and they proudly be who they are. In addition to this, ARMYs used video footage of BTS member, Kim Taehyung, where he openly refers to violence taking place in schools, and how that needs to be resolved through positive, uplifting campaigns.
Although there have been various individuals who have been requesting proof of these bullying incidents and have claimed “fake news”, ARMYs have taken the initiative to be proud representatives of BTS and their message. BTS has recently raised over $1.4 million for the UNICEF campaign which will ultimately help millions of children around the world who are affected by violence.
It is clear that the future is bright with humanitarian ambassadors and talented people like BTS. They continue to inspire people to unite together and actively raise awareness about issues around the world, and as Namjoon has said, “We’ll protect you and you’ll protect us whatever may happen in the future.”
Love Yourself. Face Yourself Speak Yourself. Peace.