Does the name Russell Brand sound familiar to you? Maybe you know him from films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek; maybe you know him as that high energy English guy with outrageous hair; or perhaps you don’t know who I am talking about at all. At any rate, it’s time you get to know this man a little deeper. Russell Brand is a comedian, actor, and author who has recently ventured down a new path in life: activism.
8. He has begun using his celebrity status to spread messages that matter, such as wealth inequality, the destruction of the planet, offshore banking, and corporate control in government policies. He comes from Grays, a working-class town in England, meaning he is an actual person with actual concerns.
7. He produces a channel on YouTube called “The Trews.” This is a channel dedicated to analyzing the media and other news productions in the western world. Russell watches different news productions and analyzes the ways in which they are projecting false information or purposely leaving out certain facts. The episodes are only about seven minutes long and they are extremely informative. Every story has an angle (even this one… *hint* LOVE RUSSELL BRAND) and Brand aims to help his audience become more aware of this fact within news production.
6. He rocks one of the most beautiful man buns currently known to humankind.
5. He protests alongside the people on subjects that matter to him, such as the New Era Housing Estate protest which raised awareness about a potential outrageous rent increase in a housing estate in East London. A US firm bought out the building and planned to increase rent to a point that would have caused the eviction of at least 93 families from their homes. Russell Brand took to the streets alongside his fellow people and the US investors are now set to sell the housing estate to a local landlord in London.
4. He is often called a hypocrite due to his criticism of wealth while he currently holds an outrageous amount of wealth. However, I am against world hunger and I have a fridge full of food. Does that make it wrong to raise awareness about the issue?
3. In October of 2014, Brand published a book titled Revolution. This book raises awareness about real problems in our current world and how to go about solving them. It’s basically a call to action to get out there and change the corruption we see in our everyday lives. Power to the people. Sound familiar?
2.The proceeds from this book will go toward opening a juice bar in East London in which Brand will employ homeless and drug stricken people. It will be employee-run, meaning that Brand will not be the boss, but rather every employee will be the boss. Employees will vote on every decision, including payroll. Brand aims to raise awareness about alternative business models and create local change for addiction and homelessness in London.
1. A celebrity with a passion for change is not something that comes along very often. This is probably because celebrities are benefitting from the current system, so why change it?
Russell is using his status for something that truly matters, so turn off those reality TV shows, go grab a copy of Revolution from your local bookstore, and support positive change in the world!