Culture
03 Jun 20

Jay-Z takes out full-page newspaper ads dedicated to George Floyd

Featuring a famous quote from Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

Rapper Jay-Z has taken out full-page newspaper ads across the US dedicated to the memory of George Floyd, whose homicide at the hands of Minneapolis police last week has sparked ongoing protests.

The ad was printed in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Enquirer, among others, and include Jay-Z, the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers, Van Jones’ Reform Alliance and the Women’s Global Initiative.

It also includes a well-known, extended quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from a 1965 address in Selma, Alabama.

“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right,” it reads.

“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. So we’re going to stand up amid horses. We’re going to stand up right here, amid the billy-clubs. We’re going to stand up right here amid police dogs, if they have them. We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!”

Team Roc, the philanthropic arm of Roc Nation, partnered with the families of Floyd and others who have lost loved ones to police violence, as well as attorneys and activists, to create the ads.

The parents of Botham Jean, DJ Henry and Antwon Rose II - all of whom were unarmed black civilians killed by police officers - also signed the ad.