Alicia Keys’ star-studded new racial justice public service announcement has gone live online.
Keys has recruited a handful of stars like Beyonce, Rihanna, Chris Rock, and Pharrell Williams to help her call for action following a recent spate of African-American deaths at the hands of police officials.
Two men were shot and killed in separate incidents in Louisiana and Minnesota last week, sparking a stand-off with police at a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, Texas on Thursday night, when five cops were shot dead.
Keys’ new PSA for her We Are Here movement features the stars listing 23 ways black people in America could be killed in 2016, recalling real-life incidents that cost members of the community their lives.
The names and images of 23 victims of police brutality also appear in the video, including Philando Castile, who was one of the two men killed last week.
Beyonce, who has become a leading light in the Black Lives Matter movement, uses her video time to recall what led to his death, stating, “Riding in your girlfriend’s car with a child in the back.”
Actress Taraji P. Henson also appears in the black and white PSA, fighting back tears as she recalls what prompted a police officer to shoot and kill Alton Sterling in Louisiana last week, adding the victim was “selling CDs outside of a supermarket”.
And it’s not just black stars who have joined Alicia’s crusade – rockers Bono and Adam Levine also appear in the new PSA.
The No One singer ends the video by urging viewers to go to WeAreHereMovement.com and sign a new petition “to tell President Obama and Congress that the time for change is now.”
“We demand radical transformation to heal the long history of systemic racism so that all Americans have the equal right to live and to pursue happiness.”
Rapper T.I. also took a stand for racial justice on Wednesday, wearing a white shirt with the words ‘WE ARE NOT DISPOSABLE’ printed on it during an appearance on U.S. TV show Access Hollywood Live.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based MC and actor, who took part in a Black Lives Matter rally in his hometown last week, said, “We are human beings. We are people, sisters and brothers and mothers and fathers… Our lives are not just disposable and able to be done away with, swept under the rug and forgotten about. And I think that that is something the law enforcement needs to reiterate into all of the officers… as we move forward. We must stand together united.”
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