Team Roc, the philanthropic arm of Jay-Z's Roc Nation, has taken out full-page ads in multiple newspapers across the U.S. in support of protesters.
The letter is dedicated to George Floyd, who was killed at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, and includes a passage from a speech Martin Luther King Jr. gave in Selma in 1965. Publication of the letter marks a partnership with multiple families who've lost children to police brutality, as well as activists and attorneys.
Angela Rye, Michael Eric Dyson, Antwon Rose's mother Michelle Kenney, DJ Henry's parents Danroy and Angella Henry, Charlamagne Tha God, George Floyd's family attorneys Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt, the Botham Jean Foundation, and more have contributed their signatures to the letter.
The letter appears in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and elsewhere. See it in full below.
Demonstrations have continued bravely across the U.S. following George Floyd's murder, even as police insisted on ramping up tensions by—among other things—arresting journalists and attacking protesters. Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison saying this week that all involved officers will be charged to "the highest degree of accountability." Ellison, whose comments on a "rush to judgment" were criticized by some, also vowed to pursue justice for George Floyd.
"I know that people are frustrated by the pacing but I wanna assure them as a person who's dedicated my whole life to civil rights and justice, I am going to pursue justice vigorously, relentlessly, uncompromisingly," he told MSNBC on Monday.
For info on how you can help raise money for protesters' bail, click here.
