John Boyega, Nigerian-British actor, gave an emotional speech as he joined a Black Lives Matter protest in London following the recent killing of George Floyd, a black American.
The Star Wars actor holding a megaphone, spoke passionately to thousands of protesters on Wednesday afternoon before they marched towards the residence of Boris Johnson, prime minister of UK.
“Black lives have always mattered, we have always been important” the 28-year-old actor told the crowd at the peaceful demonstration.
“We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I ain’t waiting. I ain’t waiting.”
Fighting back tears, John Boyega also urged his fellow protesters to understand how painful it is “to be reminded every day that your race means nothing.”
He then declared that this was “not the case anymore.” Boyega emphasized how he and the crowd are the “physical representation” of their support for Floyd and other black people who have died at the hands of law enforcement.
While Boyega’s speech was met with loud cheers from the crowd; he urged them to keep their protests “as peaceful and organized as possible.”
The actor then broke down in tears as he appealed to his fellow black men to take care of black women and “raise children in love.”
Boyega speaks on the possibility of losing his career
At one point in the protest, John Boyega spoke about the possibility of losing his acting career, saying: “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*ck that.”
He also emphasized how the protest was “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,” the actor said.
As he ended his speech, Boyega reminded the crowd that they do not “leave here and stop.”
“This is longevity,” he pointed out while stressing the importance of the individual power of each protester.
The PM had described the death of Floyd as “inexcusable”. He added: “I think what happened in the United States was appalling, it was inexcusable; we all saw it on our screens and I perfectly understand people’s right to protest what took place.”
The demonstration further stretches the global outrage that has continued to trail the killing of Floyd.
Watch the video below.
