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Beyoncé is selective about her public statements, so when she chooses to speak out, her words wield even stronger power. The superstar demanded justice for George Floyd in a rousing video message on Friday, May 29. She dove into a sea of public figure pleas, adding her spirit to the protests sprouting up in major cities across the nation. “We need justice for George Floyd,” the icon began. Her video urges the world to rise up and stop looking away, paired with a call to action everyone can take.
Scroll to watch her full video
“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. No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away.”
“George is all of our family, and humanity,” she added. “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,” she captioned. The mom-of-three referred to the fact that while Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, all the officers who forcibly held George down during his fatal arrest have yet to be held accountable.
Beyoncé is certainly not the only celebrity voice speaking out. “Enough was enough a long time ago,” Salma Hayek wrote on social media. “How many more lives and loved ones will need to be lost before this ends?” Jennifer Lopez , Eva Longoria , Cardi B , Viola Davis, Channing Tatum and Barack Obama are merely a drop in the bucket of stars who’ve reacted to the news . Like Bey, many are leading their followers to sign petitions by Change.org, Color of Change, We Can’t Breathe and NAACP.