Hollywood
Keke Palmer Explains Why Cops And National Guard Kneeling In Support Of The BLM Protests Is 'Not Enough' In Powerful Essay
By Ashley Mitchell
Jun 9, 2020 3:56 PM
Source: cosmopolitan.com
Keke Palmer has been an inspiration for many by taking a very strong stance at BLM protests. As you may know, the actress has been a front liner, even talking to police and National Guard officers directly and trying to convince them to march with the protesters.
However, instead of that, some have agreed to take a symbolic knee as to express their support to the movement.
But Keke doesn’t think that is nearly enough and she pointed that out in her essay for ‘Variety’s Power of Women’ issue.
A video of Keke trying to get the National Guard to march for the Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles has gone viral on social media and the footage shows the men refusing to march with the protesters.
Instead, they kneeled with everyone there in a gesture that many saw as a positive sign – but not Keke!
In the video, she can be heard expressing her disappointment over their refusal to march and she continued the same thought in the essay she wrote for the publication.
‘While a few guardsmen knelt, for me that isn’t enough. Kneeling has become a mockery of sorts. Kneeling on George Floyd’s neck is what killed him. Now we see police officers kneeling and then, moments later, attacking peaceful protesters. At this point, the kneeling has no meaning,’ she stressed.
The actress and talk show host went on to also explain the reason why she was so upset the National Guard chose to ‘protect the businesses’ in that area instead of protecting the people.
‘What about the people who are actually dying? In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about who may or may not touch a building; I was thinking about how we’re out here, fighting for a call to protect human lives. And the government is telling you to protect a building? That doesn’t add up to me,’ she wrote.