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Selena Gomez, Beyoncé and More Celebrities Respond to Death of George Floyd

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez is one of the many celebrities to speak up in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Photo: Instagram/@selenagomez

As footage of protests continue to emerge from cities across the United States, celebrities have taken to social media to affirm their devastation and grief at the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on May 25.

Taking to Instagram with a picture of protestors holding up a sign that reads ‘Black Lives Matter,’ Selena Gomez said, “I have spent the last 24 hours just trying to process this all. Nothing anyone says can take back what has happened. But we can and must all make sure to take action.” Speaking to the many lives that have been lost due to the senseless violence administered against African-Americans, Gomez’s caption goes on to read, “too many black lives have been taken from us for far too long. They deserve better. They deserve to be heard.” The post ends with a call to action, with the singer saying “we all need to do better and not sit in silence as this injustice continues. #blacklivesmatter #justiceforgeorgefloyd #icantbreathe.”

Gomez’s post echoes the sentiments of a number of other celebrities who have taken to social media to share their thoughts and feelings in an attempt to process the grief that has engulfed America over the last week.

In a rare video posted to Instagram, a visibly shaken Beyoncé can be seen pleading with society to stand together to seek justice for Floyd. “We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain,” she says in the video. “I’m not only speaking to people of color; if you’re white, black, brown, or anything in-between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now. No more senseless killing of human beings, no more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away. George is all of our family in humanity. He’s our family because he’s a fellow American.”

While celebrities like Gomez and Beyoncé speak collectively to society at large, Billie Eilish has taken to Instagram to challenge the problematic argument shared by veterans of the ‘All Lives Matter’ movement. In a lengthy message posted to her profile, Eilish says, “If all lives matter why are black people killed for just being black? Why are immigrants persecuted? Why are white people given opportunities that people of other races aren’t?… We have to address hundreds of years of oppression of black people.” The post is the third installment in a series of posts that feature George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter campaign.

 

To donate to the official George Floyd Memorial Fund created by his brother, Philonise, click here.

Read Next: Inside Selena Gomez’s Home and Her Daily Routine to Stay Positive Under Lockdown

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