Beyonce, Rihanna And Others List The Reasons Why Black People Have Been Killed By Police
"Riding in your girlfriend's car with a child in the back."
Last week, two African American men were killed by police in the space of 24 hours. The first, 37-year-old Alton Sterling, was shot multiple times by two police officers outside a convenience store in Louisiana. The second, 32-year-old Philando Castile, was shot in front of his partner and her four-year-old daughter by a police officer in Minnesota.
Musicians like Beyonce and Drake have publicly spoken out against the senseless killings, and today Alicia Keys has collaborated with Mic on an emotional video in which dozens of celebrities including Beyonce, Rihanna, Chance the Rapper and Chris Rock, count the incomprehensible circumstances in which black Americans have been killed by law enforcement.
Although you’re probably aware of many of these cases, like that of Trayvon Martin and Freddie Gray, hearing the incredibly innocuous reasons why these people were murdered is still important — particularly when some of these reasons are “laughing” and “holding a wallet”. It’s still just as shocking.
The video encourages viewers to go to the We Are Movement website and sign a petition urging the United States Congress to “right our historic wrongs and heal the wounds of systemic racism so that all Americans have the equal right to pursue happiness”.