John Boyega delivers heartfelt speech at Black Lives Matter march in Hyde Park
John Boyega delivered a heartfelt speech during a protest in support of Black Lives Matter at London’s Hyde Park.
The British-Nigerian actor known for his role in 'Star Wars', was praised on social media last week for using his Twitter account to fight back against racist trolls. But yesterday, Boyega was joined with protesters in central London following the death of George Floyd.
Video clips of Boyega’s protest speech circulated on social media and since then has received further gratitude from UK citizens for standing up so vocally for the black community.
"Black lives have always mattered," Boyega expressed to his fellow demonstrators.
"We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence," he said.
Boyega added, "I’m speaking to you from my heart. Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but f**k that."
The 2016 BAFTA Rising Star, reached out to protestors to keep their rally "as peaceful as possible" as to not fall into law enforcement’s trap of "wanting us to mess up, [wanting us] to be disorganised."
Xiomara Anek Adoch Richardson, 15, who attended Hyde's Park protest expressed the importance of fighting for Black lives.
"As a young Black person, I don't have as much representation or awareness. The only way I learn is through incidents and then afterwards you learn about it, it is through the pain.
"I don't want to grow up and knowing this is still happening. I don't want if I ever have kids, for me to have the same talk that my parents had saying, 'you are in danger for just breathing'".
She ended with, "That's all we are here for, justice. Not just for ones killed but just to prevent other people getting killed."
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