With what we are seeing around the world these days, it’s hard to say that we have gained any significant development or evolution as sensitive human beings. The pathetic condition of poor migrants in various countries, the lack of care and testing facilities for the patients, and an overall coverup of the mistakes on the part of the authorities during the COVID-19 crisis; these things have opened a sore wound in our matters of administration and humanity. To top that, we witnessed the death of George Floyd, an African-American, on May 25 owing to police brutality in Minneapolis, Minnesota of the United States. It shouldn’t be called death, it was a brutal murder by four policemen; one of whom kneeled on his neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds.
The tragedy has triggered widespread protests against racism and police violence; not just in most states of the USA, but also in more than fifty countries across the globe. The Black Lives Matter movement caught fire immediately after George’s demise. Celebrities have come out in huge numbers to stand beside the people and Game of Thrones stars are a good part of it. Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) with her husband, Joe Jonas, Kerry Ingram (Shireen Baratheon), and Richard Madden (Rob Stark) joined the protests to lend their voice, solidarity, and support.
Sophie joined the protests with Joe and their friends and posted the photos on Instagram. In the first photo, the protesters lay down on the ground with their hands on the back to display Floyd’s final posture. Sophie held up a placard that said “White Silence is Violence” in the second; while the third is a short video clip, where she kneels down and chants with everybody, “No justice, No peace”. She captioned her post with the same text before the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Joe Jonas also informed us of their support through Instagram.
Turner apparently explained the value of the protests in a comment; after being asked why the protests were continuing even after the arrest of the four officers. “This isn’t just about those 4 cops; this is about Breonna Taylor, this is about Trayvon Martin, this is about Eric Garner, this is about the systemic racism that black people have faced for hundreds and hundreds of years. This is about changing the system. Justice will be done when society reflects our beliefs that we are all equal. Until then, there should be no peace”. It’s certainly the larger cause that people should aim at because these problems have had a long history in the United States and other countries in the world. But we do hope this change gets reflected in everyone’s day to day life; where racism, violence, and other vices haunt us regularly.
Silence is violence. #blacklivesmatter peaceful protest today in #reading ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EvFXJBQtY3
— Kerry Ingram-Kelly (@Kerry_Ingram) June 5, 2020
Among other GoT stars, Kerry Ingram joined one of the peaceful protests too; holding out the message of “Silence is Violence”; while Richard Madden came out to protest for the second time in Santa Monica, California. Many other celebs rose to the occasion and either marched with the protesters or voiced their support through social media. Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Pink and Carey Hart, Brad Pitt, Shawn Mendes; and many more joined the fight against racism and violence. Michael B. Jordan took it to the next level by delivering a speech during a protest in Los Angeles. He stressed the importance of diversity in Hollywood and how black voices need amplification.
In spite of all the seemingly good intentions, many protesters caused violent riots and loots in several regions of the US. Some people have also termed this as a ‘leftist liberal’ agenda to suit a particular political or personal gain. However, whether someone protests out of empathy for the victims or only to spread their bias, one needs to wonder if they can label the whole movement as propaganda. If you happen to see the clip of Derek Chauvin (the white police officer) relentlessly choking George Floyd with his knee, the cries of “I can’t breathe” would remain with you for quite some time. It’s time to look inward, to reflect and introspect; to see if we have George Floyds and Derek Chauvins within and without us.
What are your thoughts? Talk to us in the comments section.
