Last week, after the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, actor Nick Cannon took to the streets of New York City to join protesters calling for justice and answers. And on Monday, Cannon released a powerful spoken-word poem that solidified his stance when it comes to the movement.
Simply titled, "Black Lives Matter," the poem's video includes footage from the New York City protests, as well as clips of various police officers.
When I say Black Lives matter
That don't mean yours don't
When we say Black lives matter
That don't mean your kids won't
They will… They gonna say it with us, because they get us.
When I say Black lives matter that don't mean yours don't
When I say Black lives matter
Don't mean white folks can't get on the boat
So it's like when I say save the whales
That don't mean the other fish can't float
It just means that the whales are endangered
Just like my species
discreetly
It don't matter who's doing the killing
As long as we end up extinct, see
This Is the thesis in these secret meetings
They having about me and the rest of my community
They say well when they shooting each other
They don't care about unity
Well brutally Let me be the one to say, they right!
Truthfully
But there ain't no such thing as black on black violence
It's crime against you and me!
Intolerance of people
Humanity
See Gentrification and Genocide
It's the Same thing in my eyes
So we gotta reprogram these social lies
And take back our streets
And we gonna keep screaming, fighting, marching and cussing
Until we abolish injustice
And our internal royalty is realized and reached
That's why I'm out here now
Practicing what I preach
So all you tweeting at me with all that Social chatter
When they kill me
Make sure they put on my tombstone
Damn Right
Black Lives Matter
In an interview with Pret-a-Reporter, Cannon gave his reasons for writing the poem.
"I said a lot of things like, 'I'll stop making it about race when they stop making it about race.' People were like, 'We're tired of you guys saying Black Lives Matter.' I'm tired of having to say it," he said. "I don't want to sit back and debate statistics and how many people are killed. Killing is just wrong in general. Life is a life. This nation is hurt. It's broken and we've got to fix it. It takes all of us to do it."
Take a look at the video below: