John Boyega Received Support From Hollywood After His Stirring Black Lives Matter Speech

On Wednesday, John Boyega made a stirring speech at a protest in London’s Hyde Park, where he spoke truth to power, saying, among other things, “Black lives have always mannered.” His voice cracked as he spoke about George Floyd and police brutality. At one point he broke down before rallying back. He wondered aloud if his words would cause any blowback. “I’m speaking to you from my heart,” the actor told the crowd. “Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but f*ck that.”

Footage of Boyega’s speech quickly went viral, and, as noticed by Entertainment Weekly, it didn’t take long for filmmakers to get his back, reminding him that he has nothing to worry about. Among those to chime in was Matthew A. Cherry, whose credits include directing Black-ish and Mixed-ish and executive producing Spike Lee’s BlackKklansman.

“I would work with John Boyega and I urge other Non-Black creators to affirm that they have his back as well,” Cherry wrote. His post prompted plenty of others to chime in as well, including Lin-Manuel Miranda.

And Chris Miller, of The Lego Movie and the 21 Jump Street films.

And Rob Delaney.

And writer Seth Grahame-Smith, of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker had similar sentiments.

As did Cathy Yan, director of Birds of Prey.

And, of course, Boyega also received support from one of his fellow Star Wars alumni.

(Via EW)