At her concert in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday night, Beyoncé paused the show for a moment of silence in honor of victims of police brutality, MTV News reports. She stood in front of a massive screen displaying the names of black Americans killed by police, beginning with Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, both of whom died this week:
She then performed a powerful a cappella version of “Freedom” before the show resumed:
Earlier in the day, the singer redesigned her entire website to feature a front-page statement about police violence on the occasion of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, saying that “the war on people of color and all minorities needs to be over.” She urged her fans to contact their representatives, including links to a service to find contact information for their members of Congress (it seems to have crashed, perhaps from traffic, so here’s a link for representatives and here’s one for senators) as well as links to the state legislatures of Louisiana and Minnesota (Sterling and Castile’s respective home states). Read her complete statement below:
We are sick and tired of the killings of young men and women in our communities.
It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they “stop killing us.”
We don’t need sympathy. We need everyone to respect our lives.
We’re going to stand up as a community and fight against anyone who believes that murder or violent action by those who are sworn to protect us should consistently go unpunished.
These robberies of lives make us feel helpless and hopeless, but we have to believe that we are fighting for the rights of the next generation, for the young men and women who believe in good.
This is a human fight. No matter your race, gender, or sexual orientation. This is a fight for anyone who feels marginalized, who is struggling for freedom or human rights.
This is not a plea to all police officers but toward any human being who fails to value life. The war on people of color and all minorities needs to be over.
Fear is not an excuse. Hate will not win.
We all have the power to channel our anger and frustration into action. We must use our voices to contact the politicians and legislators in our districts and demand social and judicial changes.
While we pray for the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, we will also pray for an end to this plague of injustice in our communities.
Click in to contact the politicians and legislators in your area. Your voice will be heard.
-Beyoncé
