Detroit rapper Big Sean joined the chorus of artists’ voices speaking out against injustice over the past weeks, posting a long video to social media explaining the United States’ history of police violence and expressing solidarity with protestors.
The video sees Sean speaking directly to his followers “from the heart,” according to the caption, “Wishing my brothers and sisters strength, ’cause I know we tired and I know we need it now more than ever.” Sean acknowledges that protestors now “got the whole world’s attention and justice has to be served, period. If it’s not, I don’t think things are gonna change or get better.”
After revealing that he himself has been among the protestors, he also noted like many observers online that much of the disruption to the peaceful protests appears to come from external sources who he says, “look like undercover cops.”
Later in the video, Sean expresses his view that “this government and this country are build on a racist foundation… some of the first police forces ever was made during slavery, down South, and the main focus was to capture, apprehend, beat, discipline slaves,” tying that racist history to modern day tactics and letting the parallels speak for themselves.
The video concludes with Sean comparing that legacy to a gash in the flesh of the nation and admonishes those who don’t see it, “You wanna talk about, ‘land of equality and freedom,’ I don’t feel equal and I don’t feel free… Things have to change.”
Watch Big Sean’s video above.