Entertainment
Beyoncé & Solange Share Messages About Mike Brown
In light of the decision of the grand jury to not indict Officer Darren Wilson on Monday night for the shooting of unarmed black teenager Mike Brown, a number of celebrities shared their thoughts on the injustice. Kerry Washington, Jessica Williams from The Daily Show, Chris Rock and more took to Twitter to offer their condolences, frustration, outrage and sadness. On Tuesday morning, both Beyoncé and her sister Solange used their personal Instagrams to express their sorrow. Solange posted a black and white image of a broken black person's face, saying in her long, heartfelt caption: "Today I feel a sense of brokenness on behalf of my people. Black people....We are not Michael Browns [sic] family, but we are Michael Browns [sic] family." Beyoncé, meanwhile, reposted a message from Mike Brown's parents encouraging positive response: "Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate action," it reads.
When such huge influencers like Beyoncé and Solange post these messages to platforms with such a wide reach, it reminds you that they're people touched by the news, too.
Last summer, Beyoncé and Jay Z joined a protest in New York City with the Reverend Al Sharpton and Trayvon Martin's parents, to express their outrage at the young black boy's murder by Florida man George Zimmerman, who was ultimately found innocent per the ludicrous "Stand Your Ground" law. And this Monday night, during the Brown case prosecutor's statement, the president's address, and the aftermath protests in Ferguson and the rest of the country, Solange wrote a series of tweets to stand with Brown, saying "I don't have anything 'insightful' to say right now. Just pain, and anger. Something we are all allowed to feel right now."
Solange's post:
Beyoncé's post:
I don't imagine it is easy for Beyoncé and Solange to speak out about racial injustice, but it's necessary. As Solange said in her Instagram caption:
When I told a friend of mine I was making an album about race, his response was...."Just make it fun." I would like him to think about it now...Thing [sic] about my people though....we don't stay broken.
That kind of strength from a famous figure helps soothe the fear. Last summer, in his statement about Trayvon Martin, President Obama said: "That could have been me 35 years ago." In an ideal world, people would not need to be reminded that others are affected by such injustice, but we clearly do not live in an ideal world. Justice certainly is not blind, and Beyoncé and Solange are not blind to that fact.
