Beyoncé demands justice for George Floyd in new video | NME
Beyoncé has spoken out in regards to the killing of George Floyd in an impassioned video posted to her Instagram account yesterday (May 30).
“We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight,” Beyoncé says in the video.
“We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalise this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of colour. If you’re white, black, brown or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by 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. He is our family because he is 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.”
The singer goes on to urge her followers to sign petitions calling for more charges to be brought to all responsible for Floyd’s death, directing them to her website.
Floyd, 46, was an African American man who died in Minneapolis on Monday (May 25) following an altercation with police. Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes as he lay on the ground during an arrest.
The incident has since led to widespread protests. All four police officers involved have lost their jobs, and Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter for his role in Floyd’s death.
Beyoncé is one of many artists who have called for justice in the wake of Floyd’s death, including Janelle Monaé and Ice Cube.
On Friday, rapper 6LACK shared a powerful message to his Twitter account, writing: “Nothing ever prepares you for how to feel when you’re constantly faced with the last dying breaths of black people, my people on your television or phone screens every single day. To be black in America is to be aware that I’m valued less by some of the people in this country.”
Yesterday, Billie Eilish shared a message of support for Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Members of the music and film community around the world have also supported a new fund to assist protesters which has gone viral after it was shared by artists from across the music and film industries.
