Chika, Zendaya, Kehlani, SZA, Lizzo and more artists gathered outside LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s house Tuesday afternoon (June 2) for a peaceful protest led by Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, BLM LA’s chapter head Melina Abdullah and Insecure actor Kendrick Sampson.
The sit-in at Garcetti’s home, which demanded to defund the police following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered by police in Minnesota last week (all four officers involved have now been charged in the case), celebrated Black art with a spirited electric slide dance and an empowering live performance by Glee actress Amber Riley, who covered Beyoncé’s Lemonade highlight featuring Kendrick Lamar “Freedom.” Chika also gave a short speech over the megaphone, which discussed her detainment after Saturday’s protest in LA and emphasized the need to care for one another.
“Three days ago, me and my manager were detained for no f—ing reason out here doing what is our constitutional right to speak up for ourselves,” Chika recalled. “We are here to fight for our cause. Take care of each other. The whole point of us being out here is to take care of each other…. They want to talk about us needing to go home. We shouldn’t have to f—ing be here, how about that?”
Check out Riley’s entire performance, Chika’s entire speech and more highlights from yesterday’s peaceful protest below.
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