Right now, protests are being held in dozens of cities across the nation as people mourn the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed May 25. In a video that went viral, Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin was shown holding his knee down on Floyd’s neck until Floyd stopped moving.
Video of the incident shows that Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for at least seven minutes, according to the The Daily Beast. Chauvin, who is white, now faces charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
As protests about Floyd’s death continue across many major cities, celebrities are also speaking out about police brutality and injustice.
Lil Wayne, also known as Dwayne Carter, has also weighed in about Floyd’s murder. On Thursday, Lil Wayne spoke with musician Fat Joe during an Instagram Live session. Fat Joe asked Lil Wayne about his “unique perspective” on the death of Floyd and the growing protests and riots.
Lil Wayne told him:
“I think when we see these situations, I think we also have to understand that we have to get very specific. And what I mean by that is we have to stop viewing it with such a broad view, meaning we have to stop placing the blame on the whole force and the whole everybody or a certain race or everybody with a badge.”
He continued:
“We have to actually get into who that person is. And if we want to place the blame on anybody, it should be ourselves for not doing more than what we think we’re doing.”
Lil’ Wayne encourages people to stop placing the blame on ALL police or one race but judge individual situations instead. He also says to know what you’re really screaming or protesting about because a lot of people don’t know what they’re talking about. https://t.co/HU7ZYRVrN0
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 30, 2020
Fat Joe also asked Lil Wayne about him not speaking up more when similar events of police brutality against black people have occurred. Lil Wayne seemed to imply that just speaking up or going on social media isn’t enough to get the point across.
“What else am I gonna do after that? Some people put a tweet out and they think they did something. Some people wear a shirt and they think they did something. What you gonna do after that?”
The rapper said that instead of just tweeting or speaking about police brutality, people could take action, or do something to help Floyd’s family.
“Did you actually help the person? Did you actually help the family? Did you actually go out there and do something? So, if I ain’t about to do all that, then I ain’t about to do nothing. I’ll pray for ya.”
Protests and marches have continued for several days in cities like Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Miami. If you’re interested in donating, Paper magazine has a list of funds that people can use to help bail out protestors; or you can help Floyd’s family with burial costs.
