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John Boyega participates in Black Lives Matter protests and moves with speech

John Boyega
photo: reproduction

The actor John Boyega, 28, took to the streets of London to protest against structural racism in demonstrations led by the #BlackLivesMatter movement (#VidasNegrasImportam) this Wednesday (3).

“Black lives have always mattered. They have always been important. They always meant something. We have always been successful despite this [racism],” he said into the megaphone.

“And now the time has come. I'm not waiting. We are a physical representation of support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of Travyon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence.”

At this point, Boyega referred to known cases of black people murdered by police officers or whose deaths bear traces of state violence. Floyd's death, in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA), on May 25, is the trigger for the wave of anti-racist protests across several countries in recent days. Floyd, who died at the age of 46, was asphyxiated by a white police officer on the street, who continued to press his knee against the victim's neck even after he said several times that he couldn't breathe.

“I speak from my heart to you. I don't know if I'll have a career after this, but f… it. (…) Today the focus is on innocent people who were halfway through their processes”, continued the actor, visibly emotional and in tears.

“We don’t know what George Floyd could have achieved, we don’t know what Sandra Bland could have achieved, but today we’re going to make sure that won’t be a distant thought for our children and young people.”

black lives matterjohn boyegaracismstar wars

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