Ziwe and Patti Harrison Solve Poverty on the Song “Stop Being Poor”

Ziwe and Patti Harrison Solve Poverty on the Song “Stop Being Poor”

“Stop Being Poor” isn’t just Ziwe’s latest song; it’s also been the conservative “solution” to poverty for decades.

The Showtime star, who performs as her own musical guest on every episode of her eponymous TV show, skewers the callous, disingenuous ideology of the right in her newest video. Joining her is Patti Harrison, comedian and star of Together Together, who you might recognize from appearances on I Think You Should Leave, Shrill, and Broad City. Together the two create a wealth-obsessed video that evokes influencer culture and the last 25 years (at least) of pop music, while overtly satirizing the vapid, self-serving, dehumanizing mentality of those who hold the poor in contempt.

Co-written with Jordan Mendoza, “Stop Being Poor” is a sharp, succinct example of what Ziwe does. She uses the tools and language of disposable pop culture—social media, music videos—to scathingly criticize the prejudices and preconceptions found throughout society, both the explicit ones and the implicit ones people don’t even realize they’ve internalized. It’s what she did on her infamous Instagram show last year, and it’s what she’s still doing now that she has her own show on Showtime. If you have Showtime, you can check out new episodes on Sundays at 11 p.m. ET / 10 p.m. CT. Either way, you can enjoy the music video from the next episode right now, courtesy of a website called YouTube.

 
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