In the wake of civil unrest across the country… with protests breaking out in major city after major… with racial injustice at the forefront of nearly every news story…
… the Queen has spoken out.
On Friday night, in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the subsequent nationwide fallout, Beyoncé took to social media to share an important message with her 147 million Instagram followers.
“We need justice for George Floyd,” the artist began her moving video message on Instagram.
“We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain.”
Floyd was a Minnesota resiident who died several days ago after a police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.
In video of the incident, Floyd can be heard saying “I can’t breathe” and asking the officer — who has since been arrested — to please get off of him.
Over the last couple days, protests and riots have broken out in cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles and Brooklyn in response to this fatal incident… and the overall history of police brutality against African-Americans.
“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 continued.
“No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of color as less than human.
“We can no longer look away.”
Beyonce went on say that “George is all of our family, and humanity,” adding:
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.
Please sign the petition and continue to pray for peace, compassion and healing for our country.
“If you want to demand more charges brought on all those involved in the death of George Floyd, click the link in my bio to sign the petition,” Beyonce’s video caption read on Instagram, which directed you to her website.
It included petitions from Change.org, Color of Change, We Can’t Breathe and NAACP.
While many celebrities have spoken out on this killing — including Viola Davis, LeBron James, Gabrielle Union, Gigi Hadid, Taylor Swift and countless others — some have also taken to the streets to protest.
Porsha Williams and Jamie Foxx, were example, took part in the Atlanta protests.
Rihanna also posted a picture of Floyd and wrote along with it:
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…
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 f— normal??? If intentional MURDER is the fit consequence for ‘drugs’ or ‘resisting arrest’….then what’s the fit consequence for MURDER???
At the conclusion of her post, Rihanna included the names of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor; all recent victims of violence against innocent African-Americans.
Arbery was shot and killed by two white men on February 23, for example, after the assailants saw him jogging in Santilla Shores, Georgia.
After a video of the shooting leaked, Travis McMichael and Gregory McMichael were arrested, while William “Roddie” Bryan — who followed Arbery in a second vehicle and filmed the shooting — was charged as well.
All three were charged with felony murder.