Pretty Lights donates $10K to Black Lives Matter, breaks two-year silence

Pretty Lights (Derek Vincent Smith) has been dark for more than two years now, following his 10th anniversary Red Rocks show. While the hiatus was planned and intentional, with rumors circulating that Pretty Lights was retiring, Smith’s dedicated fanbase has been waiting fervently for some kind of word. While there’s been plenty of chatter, including a couple of reliable sources indicating Pretty Lights was “working hard in the studio,” Smith has now returned to his socials to address the Black Lives Matter protests and take a stance in solidarity with the movement.

“Racism IS A REAL PROBLEM across the globe,” Smith says in a powerful statement. “Ugliness from our collective past lingers all around us in the form of inequality & fear & privilege.. and we must strive to recognize it in the world and in ourselves and so everything we can to uproot it with love & compassion & action.”

After clearing his entire Instagram entirely, Pretty Lights also urged action and organization during these times to “embrace the discomfort of change.” The biggest statement he made was a $10,000 donation to Act Blue’s fund for George Floyd, which also goes “help support the heroes on the frontlines of this movement.”

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