Beyoncé Encouraged Protestors to “Dismantle a Racist and Unequal System”
During last night’s virtual BET Awards ceremony, Beyoncé was honored with the 2020 BET Humanitarian Award. Former first lady Michelle Obama presented the award to Beyoncé, acknowledging the singer’s work with Obama’s Let’s Move campaign as well as her Houston-based work through her BeyGood initiative and the #IDidMyPart mobile COVID testing campaign.
In her acceptance speech, Beyoncé addressed her fellow Black Americans who have been faced with racial injustice within the U.S. for decades, and who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
She urged protestors currently fighting back against systemic racism to continue their fight to “dismantle a racist and unequal system.”
“I want to dedicate this award to all of my brothers out there, all of my sisters out there inspiring me—marching and fighting for change,” Beyoncé began her speech. “Your voices are being heard, and you’re proving to our ancestors that their struggles were not in vain.”
She continued, “Now we have one more thing we need to do to walk in our true power, and that is to vote. I'm encouraging you to continue to take action. Continue to change and dismantle a racist an unequal system. We have to continue to do this together.
“Continue to fight for each other and lift each other up, because there are people banking on us staying at home during the local elections and primaries happening in states across the country,” she said. “We have to vote like our life depends on it, because it does. So please continue to be the change you want to see.”
Congrats to Beyonce on her Humanitarian Award! #BETAwards #BETAwards2020 pic.twitter.com/TN9b0JB9ms
— The Beyonce World (@beyonceW0RLD) June 29, 2020
To continue fighting for justice, Beyoncé and her mother Tina Lawson penned a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to pass the Heroes Act, which would “help provide funding to ensure that our vote is protected this election cycle,” Bey wrote in an Instagram post.
Like the protestors, Beyoncé’s work is not finished. You can find resources and petitions to support the families of victims of police brutality, like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, on her BeyGood homepage.
