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Rihanna, Beyoncé and Oprah Speak Out About the Death of George Floyd

Rihanna, Photo: lev radin/Shutterstock.com

Rihanna, photo by lev radin/Shutterstock.com

Rihanna, Beyoncé and Oprah have added their voices to the hundreds of thousands of people condemning racism and police brutality following the death of African American man George Floyd. 

A video of the 46-year-old has emerged showing him lying on the ground, handcuffed, with a white police officer’s knee on his neck. Some of his last words were “I can’t breathe.”

“Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart,” Rihanna writes in a social media post.

“I can’t shake this. I can’t get over an ambulance pulling up to an arrest, a paramedic checking a pulse without removing the very thing that’s hindering it! Is this f***ing normal???” she asks, outraged by the injustice of it all.

 

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For the last few days, the magnitude of devastation, anger, sadness I’ve felt has been overwhelming to say the least! Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart! To the point of staying away from socials, just to avoid hearing the blood curdling agony in George Floyd’s voice again, begging over and over for his life!!! The look of enticement, the pure joy and climax on the face of this bigot, murderer, thug, pig, bum, Derek Chauvin, haunts me!! I can’t shake this! I can’t get over an ambulance pulling up to an arrest, a paramedic checking a pulse without removing the very thing that’s hindering it! Is this that fucking normal??? If intentional MURDER is the fit consequence for “drugs” or “resisting arrest”….then what’s the fit consequence for MURDER???! #GeorgeFloyd #AhmaudArbery #BreonnaTaylor

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 Oprah has also shared her thoughts: “While pouring coffee, lacing my shoes, and taking a breath, I think: He doesn’t get to do this.”

“We speak your name. But this time we will not let your name be just a hashtag,” Ms Winfrey adds.

“Your spirit is lifted by the cries of all of us who call for justice in your name!”

 

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I’ve been trying to process what can be said or heard in this moment. I haven’t been able to get the image of the knee on his neck out of my head. It’s there every morning when I rise and when I go through the ordinary duties of the day. While pouring coffee, lacing my shoes, and taking a breath, I think: He doesn’t get to do this. And now the video from the other angle of two other officers pinning him down. My heart sinks even deeper. His family and friends say he was a gentle giant. His death has now shown us he had a giant soul. If the largeness of a soul is determined by its sphere of influence, George Floyd is a Mighty soul. #GeorgeFloyd: We speak your name. But this time we will not let your name be just a hashtag. Your spirit is lifted by the cries of all of us who call for justice in your name!

A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on

Meanwhile, Beyoncé has posted links to a number of petitions on her website calling for change and justice for George Floyd and all African Americans killed due to racism and police brutality.

Nehal is an award-winning news presenter and the founder of positive celebrity news site CelebrityKind. (She's also a mummy-of-3, chocoholic and Opraholic!)

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