Numerous celebrities — including Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey — used their social media platforms to share powerful messages about racial injustice and police violence as nationwide protests continued over the weekend.
What’s going on:
- Protesters gathered across the nation over the weekend to demonstrate against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by a white police officer. Protests also focused on racial injustice and inequality.
- The demonstrations ranged from across the country, reaching cities like Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia and more.
Celebrities react:
Beyonce released a video message, according to People magazine. She said:
- “We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. 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 by the racism going on in America right now.”
- “There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings and no consequences. Yes, somebody’s been charged but justice is far from being achieved. Please sign a petition and continue to pray for peace, love and compassion for our country.”
Oprah Winfrey emphasized the need to speak up in the latest edition of “Oprah’s Your Life in Focus: A Vision Forward” — Live Virtual Experience.
- “Those of us who have the ability to be seen or heard in our lives—whether you are black or white, Asian or Hispanic — it is incumbent on all of us to not just be outraged when we see injustice.”
- “It’s not enough to just say ‘It’s so terrible.’ We can’t tolerate hate crimes perpetrated by authorities in this country. We need to speak up and say ‘That will not happen on my watch.’ We’re going to do the work that it takes to dismantle in our own way.”
Other celebrities shared social media posts about the death of George Floyd and the nationwide protests.