Meghan Markle, who is also an African American came out in support for the community. (Designed by Gargi Singh)
African-American George Floyd’s tragic death has brought thousands of protesters out on the streets of the US, crying ‘Black Lives Matter’. The 46-year-old’s death has sparked a huge outrage across the globe. Meghan Markle, who is also an African American, came out in support for the community and paid tribute to Floyd in a video message. Speaking to the graduating class of her old school Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, she said, “I know sometimes people say how many times do we have to rebuild? We are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt.”
The 38-year-old former actor and member of the British royal family, “I wasn’t sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered and so do many other people’s lives, who’s the name we know and those we don’t know”.
Meghan said, “As we’ve all seen over the last week what is happening in our country and in our state and in our hometown of LA has been absolutely devastating.” She commented that children have to “grow up in a racist world like that”.
Watch the video here:
Meghan also spoke about when she began secondary school in the same school as them, in 1992. She said, “I was 11 or 12 years old when I was just about to start Immaculate Heart Middle School in the fall, and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by a senseless act of racism. And I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting. And I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. And I remember pulling up at the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don’t go away.”