Beyonce World Humanitarian Day Interview Sparks Twitter Debate; Is 'Impactful' A Word? (VIDEO)
Beyonce Knowles recently sat down for an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper regarding World Humanitarian Day (WHD) and it was not just the singer's inspiring charitable ideas that later set tongues wagging, but also one particular word that she used sparked a Twitter debate.
The Grammy award-winning singer appeared alongside the U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, for a candid discussion about raising awareness for WHD and encouraging people to give back.
"I was definitely attracted to raising awareness of this day of recognition, I found out that 22 people lost their lives helping people [in Baghdad, Iraq] ... and I thought it was such an incredible thing to turn that into something positive and try to include the world into doing something great for someone else," Beyonce said.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Later when asked about the Survivor Foundation, a charity she founded with Kelly Rowland which is designed to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, Beyonce, 30, explained that people should not feel pressured to make big gestures on WHD because even the smallest gestures can go a long way.
"Every single day the smallest thing helps ... I feel like if we all realize that if we do something small and if all of us in one day do something effective it will be so impactful," Beyonce said.
Fans of the "I Was Here" singer flocked to social networking site Twitter where a heated debate erupted over the word "impactful." While some fans commended Beyonce's message, others accused Beyonce of using improper english.
"Impactful is a word. Lol its an intransitive verb," one Twitter follower with the username "A Black Woman" tweeted.
"Omg...y is there even this discussion about "impactful"? No it's not a word..and that's fine. It's Beyonce, not God. She's human too," one follower with the username "Be-You-Tea" tweeted.
"Ive heard Presidents use the word Impactful. Trust me, if Alicia Keys, or even Rihanna said it, it would NOT have been a prob," Patrick tweeted.
"Ahhh Beyonce can't win for trying. Impactful is not an actual word but I don't think she's the only one who uses it as if it is," Toni tweeted.
According to Grammarist.com, a website "written and edited by a group of U.S.-based writers," the word "impactful" is a "late 20th-century coinage" that is "probably here to stay."
However John McIntyre, an editor at The Baltimore Sun, disagrees, pointing out the "lack of citations for impactful in standard references" in a blog post on baltimoresun.com.
Despite the heated debate, hoards of fans applauded Beyonce for her commitment to making a positive difference. The singer also spoke about what she plans to do in honor of WHD.
"I've thought of many different things, one thing I'm gonna start working on now ... everyday I'm gonna try to do something and basically give examples of acts of kindness that I think people will gravitate towards ... feel like they can do. Even if it's something as small as feeding the homeless or giving your coat to someone who needs it, or helping the elderly across the street," she told Cooper.
Beyonce recently filmed the music video for her popular song "I Was Here" at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, and explained how the song related to WHD.
"'I was Here' it says I wanna leave my footprints in the sands of time and it's basically all of our dreams ... and that's leaving our mark on the world. I feel like we all want to know that our life meant something, and that we did something for someone else and that we spread positivity no matter how big our how small, and so the song was perfect for Would Humanitarian Day," she said.
World Humanitarian Day is on August 19, 2012, and in a bid to help the campaign reach at least 1 billion people, Beyonce's "I Was Here" music video will be released on the same day.
