The barbaric murder of George Floyd has sparked national and international outrage and celebrities are chiming in about the need for social justice reform.
Amidst the viral video clip that documents the tragic moments leading up to the gruesome death of a black Minneapolis man, George Floyd by the police, many high-profile celebrities are using their platforms to speak out on police brutality. Nas is one of the many who have come forward on social media to raise awareness for the social injustices and shed some light on who George Floyd really was. The rapper posted an old clip of Floyd in which he talks about the important issue of ending gun violence. “Real Spill. Words of Wisdom from George Floyd. Rest In Power. JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD,” the hip-hop legend wrote alongside the video.
To hear the victim of such an egregious injustice advocating for social justice in the posthumous video is heartbreaking, to say the least. Many other famous figures took to the media to say their piece including 50 Cent who shared the viral video of the brutal moment that Floyd was killed by a white police officer who used his neck as an altar to kneel on. “If they don’t charge this fool with murder,” 50 Cent wrote. His caption resonated with the public outcry to have the officers involved prosecuted but unfortunately, that’s proven difficult for the state that has only chosen to relieve the men of their law enforcement duties.
Lebron James seemed distraught when he took to social media to express his emotional anguish over the spine-chilling homicide. “Do you understand NOW!!??!!?? Or is it still blurred to you?” he questioned alluding to police brutality and discrimination towards black people in America. Diddy also shared to his Instagram stories the victim’s name and prayer hands emoji, as did many others like Keke Palmer, Kelly Rowland, and more.
Ice Cube was also enraged by the horrendous news and shared a post to Instagram with the caption, “A wolf in wolves clothing. The demons are among us. #Fightthecowards.” The rapper shared a side by side photo of the policeman Derek Chauvin in the criminal act and another photo of a man wearing a hat with the words “Make Whites Great Again” on the front.
Though it was clearly Ice Cube’s effort to expose the cop as a racist (not that much more evidence was needed), it turns out that the man in the second photo was identified as another racist and wasn’t the same Minneapolis police officer in question. Ice Cube also took to Twitter to pose the moving question, “How long will we go for Blue on Black Crime before we strike back???”
Meek Mill is one rapper who has been advocating for social justice reform for a long time and he has had his fair share of personal experience with the law. Therefore, it was his duty to speak on the matter as well and so he did. The rapper and social activist denounced the cruel act writing, “Its 2020 don’t even bring up a protest!!!!!! Now they kill us on the camera it’s no excuse left!” Snoop Dogg’s sentiments were “no justice, just us” and it could not ring more true.
? #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/cFazgClwNe
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 27, 2020
You deserved your breath, your dignity, your life. Not to die in the street, murdered by a white cop’s knee on your neck. You deserve our tears, our prayers, our rage, our action. We must act – for you – and for all of those were no cameras are present. We must. #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/JeMNUtkXv6
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) May 27, 2020
I don’t have the words. I’m sick and tired of this, tired of being sad about our people dying needlessly. Harassed and humiliated in these challenging times, I thought we could come to together, but it seems like this Coronavirus has bought out more racism in a major way. pic.twitter.com/vZpNHm9Zco
— Naomi Campbell (@NaomiCampbell) May 27, 2020
George Floyd was a 46-year-old black man whose life was snuffed by an unlawful and negligent white police officer who showed no mercy and did not relent even as onlookers implored him to relieve the victim; begged him not to kill this man. Through his shortened breath George Floyd could be heard begging for his own life and telling the officer that he could not breathe, which apparently did not matter to the Blue. Though all 4 officers involved in the wrongful and brutal murder of George Floyd were fired, that is not justice.
The Minneapolis mayor has called for the officers to be charged and the nation agrees. The police deny the charges and even initially claimed that the victim resisted arrest, something that was proven to be a blatant lie in surveillance footage. In an interview the morning after George Floyd’s death, his brother Rodney had this to say about what the police alleged: “You have eyes. I have eyes,” he said. “You can see what you saw. And I saw, and the nation saw … and every black person saw the same thing, because it don’t happen to nobody else.”
Murder should not suddenly become legal or even arguable just because the murderer is in uniform.
