John Boyega tears up during Black Lives Matter protest speech: ‘We don’t know what George Floyd could have achieved’
‘I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but f*** that’
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Star Wars actor John Boyega gave an emotional speech at the Hyde Park Black Lives Matter demonstration after the death of George Floyd in the US.
The 28-year-old teared up at several points during his speech which referenced police involvement in the deaths of George Floyd, Sandra Bland and Trayvon Martin in the US and also the death of Stephen Lawrence in the UK.
“We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd,“ he told the demonstration. ”We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence.”
He added: “I’m speaking to you from my heart. Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but f*** that.
“Today is about innocent people who were halfway through their process, 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 an alien thought to our young ones.”
He told the crowds: “Every black person in here remembered when another person reminded you that you were black.
“So none of you out there, all those protesters on the other side, protesting against what we want to do, protesting against what we want to try and achieve, burn you, this is so vital.
The actor continued: “I need you to understand how painful this s**t is. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing and that isn’t the case anymore, that was never the case anymore."
Thousands of people descended on Hyde Park on Wednesday (3 June) to protest police brutality and systemic racism.