In a virtual summit on Friday, Meghan Markle spoke on several issues, but her relief at being home in the U.S. again, despite the laundry list of problems she saw, is palpable.
The 39-year-old discussed her delight and hope for the future with Emily Ramshaw, the cofounder and CEO of the nonprofit the 19th.
Meghan said: “The loudest voices are often the negative ones, sadly. So I think, from my standpoint, it's not new to see this undercurrent of racism and certainly unconscious bias, but I think to see the changes that are being made right now is really something that I look forward to being a part of, and being a part of using my voice in a way I haven't been able to of late. So yeah, it’s good to be home.”
Meghan added: “To come back and to just see this state of affairs, I think at the onset, if I'm being honest, it was just devastating. It was so sad to see where our country was in that moment,” she said. “If there's any silver lining in that, I would say that in the weeks after the murder of George Floyd, in the peaceful protests that you were seeing, in the voices that were coming out, in the way that people were actually owning their role…it shifted from sadness to a feeling of absolute inspiration, because I can see that the tide is turning.”
“From my standpoint, it’s not new to see this undercurrent of racism and certainly unconscious bias, but I think to see the changes that are being made right now is really — it's something I look forward to being a part of,” Meghan said. “And being part of using my voice in a way that I haven’t been able to of late. So, yeah, it’s good to be home.”
Meghan also talked about pushing the vote: “When I have these conversations about encouraging people to go out and vote, I think it's often challenging for men and women alike and certainly for people to remember just how hard it was to get the right to vote. And to be really aware and not taking that for granted. My husband for example — he's never been able to vote.”
She added, “I really do hope what you're able to encourage and what we're able to see happen through The 19th over the course of the next few months is that women understand that their voices are needed now more than ever — and the best way to exercise that is through voting.”
SKETCHY FUNDRAISER?
Meanwhile, reports are emerging that the pair’s recent charitable activity was linked to a Twitter troll accused of attacking the royal family. They recently called a fan to thank her for raising $60K for charities they support, only to discover later that Dani Trin allegedly posted hateful attacks on Harry’s brother Prince William, his wife Kate and the Queen.
Previous posts from @HenrysCousin — part of the #SussexSquad hashtag on Twitter — include “sick jokes” about Kate being an “anorexic wrinkly hoe,” a “corner plant” and repeatedly called her “Karen”
When contacted, Trin admitted to the Sun she was one of eight #SussexSquad members who had a password to the @HenrysCousin account, but denied personally writing abusive messages, noting: “I feel like it’s not my place to condemn or approve another person’s tweets. It’s their opinion. @HenrysCousin was like a forum and I had no control what other people posted. The group disbanded and the account was deactivated due to irreconcilable differences.”