JAY-Z and his associates at Roc Nation have spent a fortune honouring tragic Black Lives Matter icon George Floyd in a series of full-page U.S. newspaper ads.
Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers last week sparked ongoing nationwide protests and two days after JAY-Z spoke out about the tragedy and confirmed he had been talking to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz about justice for the cops involved, he and his partners have dug deep to remember Floyd and countless other African-American victims of police brutality with a quote from civil rights legend Martin Luther King, Jr.
The ad was posted on the Team Roc Twitter account alongside the caption: “In dedication to George Floyd. #BlackLivesMatter #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd.”
The quote comes from King’s 1965 speech to protesters in Selma, Alabama, in which he stated: “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. So we’re going to stand up amid horses. We’re going to stand up right here, amid the billy-clubs. We’re going to stand up right here amid police dogs, if they have them. We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!”
The ad appeared in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Enquirer, and was signed by JAY-Z, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Women’s Global Initiative, among others, including the parents of Botham Jean, DJ Henry and Antwon Rose II, unarmed black civilians killed by police officers.
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