Beyonce, Rihanna, Alicia Keys: How to Get Killed While Black
Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Rihanna and Chris Rock are among the stars to contribute to Mic’s video listing the 23 reasons why black Americans have been killed, particularly in recent years since the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement. The video supports the We Are Here Movement and follows the viral murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of white police officers.
In “23 Ways You Could Be Killed If You Are Black in America,” each performer offers the innocent actions of black Americans who have been murdered as well as the victims’ names. Keys launches the clip with “failing to signal a lane change,” in reference to Sandra Bland, while Beyoncé evokes Castile while stating “riding in your girlfriend’s car with a child in the back.”
Lenny Kravitz, Zoë Kravitz, Queen Latifah, Pink, Bono, Jennifer Hudson, Rosario Dawson and more bring up the “crimes” of many slain and often young victims, including Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Sean Bell and the nine churchgoers who died during the Charleston massacre.
“In other words, just for being black in America and doing absolutely nothing, these everyday actions can be seen as not servile enough,” Maxwell and Rihanna each partially deliver at the end of the clip. Keys returns to the screen encouraging viewers to visit the We Are Here Movement website to encourage President Obama and congress “that the time for change is now.”