Will Smith is sharing messages about the ongoing fight against racial injustice with his massive social media following (45.8 million users on Instagram, to be exact). The movie superstar posted a video titled “No Justice, No Peace” highlighting the widespread action taken after the police killing of George Floyd.
“You always have a fight you don’t see coming,” Smith says in the opening clip. “I think there’s a historical river that is running red with the blood of truth-tellers. The beauty of being American, when we’re scared, we reach for our higher selves and not our lower selves.”
The video features iconic civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela as well as Barack Obama’s recent speech about the protests around the country.
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“Dr. King was a young man when he got involved,” Obama points out. “Cesar Chavez was a young man. Malcolm X was a young man. The leaders of the feminist movement were young people. Leaders of union movements were young people. You’ve communicated a sense of urgency that is as powerful and transformative as anything that I’ve seen in recent years.”
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“No Justice, “No Peace” also includes messages from current activists such as Phillip Agnew and Curtis Hayes in addition to 12-year-old Keedron Bryant singing “I Just Want To Live.”
After publishing his “No Justice, No Peace” video on Sunday (June 7), Smith followed it up the next day by uploading a clip from comedian Michael Che’s 2016 Netflix special Michael Che Matters. In his stand-up routine, the Saturday Night Live co-head writer pointed out the ridiculousness of being against the Black Lives Matter movement.
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“Sometimes it takes a comic to really capture how SIMPLE this should be @chethinks,” Smith wrote in his Instagram caption.
View the “No Justice, No Peace” montage above and check out Che’s Black Lives Matter bit below.
Hip Hop has not been silent during this crucial time in history. JAY-Z called MN Governor Walz to help get George Floyd’s case into the hands of Attorney General Keith Ellison, Russ raised over $150k for Black Lives Matter, The Weeknd donated $500k to various BLM causes, Drake donated $100k to National Bail Out, and Killer Mike provided a powerful speech addressing Atlanta amid city wide protests.
Kanye West donated $2 million to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. J. Cole and Kendrick were both spotted at local protests and Meek Mill dropped a song addressing police brutality.
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These efforts are only a few highlights among the many people who are doing what they can to help spread messaging and advance the Black Lives Matter movement.
