Thousands have taken to the streets across the United States in recent days to protest the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died after a police officer dug their knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes. In addition to the amount of time that it took for the officer at the center of this to be arrested — video of the incident went viral earlier this week, and it was not until Friday afternoon that he was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — these protestors looked to speak out against the years-long trend of killings of black individuals at the hands of police officers.
This included demonstrations in Atlanta on Friday night that garnered considerable attention, in part due to the images of looting and destruction of property that included the CNN Center. As a result, Atlanta native, rapper, and activist Killer Mike spoke to the individuals of his city and expressed both his anger regarding Floyd’s death and pleaded with Atlantans to not “burn your own house down for anger with an enemy,” hoping that they would instead “fortify your own house, so that you may be a house of refuge in times of organization.”
The clip went viral, including catching the eye of LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers star posted the clip of Killer Mike’s remarks, calling them a “mandatory listen” amid the current situation in the United States.
MANDATORY LISTEN!!!! @KillerMike always on point! So passionate and smart(knowledgeable) as hell!! Man I love you G! Salute
https://t.co/Mi8WQ74LWD
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 30, 2020
Beyond James, members of the NBA family such as Trae Young, Jerry Stackhouse, and Detlef Schrempf have also shared Killer Mike’s address. It’s not the only message James has amplified in recent days. Earlier in the evening on Friday, he shared a clip from Ava DuVernay about the longtime oppression the black community has experienced at the hands of law enforcement in America and praised Jalen Rose’s remarks on Get Up about his experience as a black man in America.
After Lil Wayne and Cardi B both delivered comments on the death of George Floyd, a number of other big name musicians stepped up to share their thoughts. Killer Mike and Beyonce both made comments Friday night, with Mike begging his fellow Atlanta citizens to end the violence in his hometown, saying, “It is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy.” Beyonce, on the other hand, reminded viewers in an Instagram video that justice has yet to have been fully served. “There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings, and no consequences. Yes, someone’s been charged, but justice is far from being achieved.” Now Rihanna has delivered a strong message in a recent Instagram post.
Rihanna shared a picture of George Floyd to her Instagram, along with a lengthy caption that fully captured her displeasure and the overall disgust she felt in watching the video of Officer Derek Chauvin, who she called a “thug, pig, bum,” kneeling on Floyd’s neck.
For the last few days, the magnitude of devastation, anger, sadness I’ve felt has been overwhelming to say the least! Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart! To the point of staying away from socials, just to avoid hearing the blood curdling agony in George Floyd’s voice again, begging over and over for his life!!! The look of enticement, the pure joy and climax on the face of this bigot, murderer, thug, pig, bum, Derek Chauvin, haunts me!! I can’t shake this! I can’t get over an ambulance pulling up to an arrest, a paramedic checking a pulse without removing the very thing that’s hindering it! Is this that fucking normal??? If intentional MURDER is the fit consequence for “drugs” or “resisting arrest”….then what’s the fit consequence for MURDER???! #GeorgeFloyd #AhmaudArbery #BreonnaTaylor
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A number of artists throughout the music industry have expressed their thoughts about the death of George Floyd and about the protests happening throughout the country. Cardi B posted a video to her Instagram page saying, “Finally, yes. Motherf*ckers are gonna hear us now,” while Lil Wayne shared his thoughts in an awkwardly-worded statement during an interview with Fat Joe. Killer Mike also voiced his anger with George Floyd’s death while reminding his fellow Atlanta citizens “not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy.” One Friday, Beyonce delivered her own message.
On a video posted on her Instagram page, Beyonce pleaded for justice for George Floyd. “We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight,” she said. “We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of color. If you’re white, black, brown, or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless about the racism going on in America right now.” Beyonce also called for an end to “senseless killings of human beings” and “seeing people of color as less than human,” adding, “We can no longer look away.”
Beyonce concluded by saying that while there was an arrest in the police killing of George Floyd, justice has yet to be served. “George is all of our family, and humanity,” she said. “He’s our family because he’s a fellow American. There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings, and no consequences. Yes, someone’s been charged, but justice is far from being achieved.”
Beyonce then directed viewers to her website where petitions by Change.org, Color of Change, We Can’t Breathe and NAACP can be found.
Watch the video above to hear Beyonce’s message.
