USA-POLICE/JANELLE MONAE Singer Janelle Monae and activists gather in Hollywood to protest police brutality

Record ID: 142929

  • Title: USA-POLICE/JANELLE MONAE Singer Janelle Monae and activists gather in Hollywood to protest police brutality
  • Date: 22nd August 2015
  • Summary: JANAE AND WONDALAND LABELMATES STANDING WITH PROTESTERS SINGING '"HELL YOU TALMBOUT"
  • Embargoed: 6th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA944LKD3KIA9ZD7GQ4V0F2NPV2
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Singer Janelle Monae and about 60 demonstrators gathered in Hollywood on Friday (August 21) to protest police brutality.
    Monae and label mates sang 'Hell You Talmbout', a recently released song with lyrics that include names of victims of alleged police violence.
    Relatives of people killed while in police custody took turns passing around the microphone to call out their loved ones names.
    "We want this song to be used as a tool in all communities around the world. We are about unity, unification, and we are about being on one side to end having to say any more names, no more names. So as we call out the names of those we've lost, this is yours as you go to your rallies and you go home, you do what you choose," singer, Janelle Monae said to a small gathering before performing 'Hell You Talmbout' with her Wondaland labelmates.
    Brigette Feltus, a Compton native whose cousin died while in police custody on Sunday (August 16), said the problem extended beyond just the police brutality.
    "This is a problem, this is a problem in this country, and most of it is miseducation and fear mongering. We've been taught to be afraid of each other and that is crazy. This is, this is supposed to be a melting pot in the world, and we're not a melting pot, we have a long way to go before we're a melting pot," Feltus told Reuters.
    Geneva Thompson travelled from Salt Lake City and regularly participates in rallies protesting police brutality and racial profiling.
    "And I think we're not in a spot where we're talking about the issue, has anything changed? No, and I might even argue it's getting worse but the fact that it's coming to light, we're having discussions about it now, politicians are having to talk about it, we're disrupting presidential debates, that disruption is bringing it to light and that will lead to change," Thompson said.
    Earlier on Friday (August 21), St. Louis medical examiner stated that the 18-year-old man shot and killed by police on August 19 (Wednesday) was shot in the back with a bullet that hit him in the heart.
    The findings could contradict an account given by St. Louis Police who said officers carrying out a search warrant shot at Mansur Ball-Bey after he pointed a gun at them.
    The incident has sparked protests in St. Louis -- still tense after the anniversary of Michael Brown's shooting death by police in nearby Ferguson.
    Local activist, Tekoah Flory, feels that things have changed in the last year but not far enough.
    "Certain things have changed but there still needs to be an awakening, like look at all these folks out here, there's a few but still, you know?" Flory said.
    Chris Silva, whose brother David Silva died while in custody, says the next step must translate talk into action.
    "So what, you're aware about it what's going to happen, what's the government going to do about it and what are we going to do about it so the talk is coming to an end, we're going to have to start acting upon it," Silva said.
    Released on August 13, 'Hell You Talmbout' is a 6 and half minute song dedicated to black Americans killed by police.
    Monae stated on her Instagram that "This song is a vessel. It carries the unbearable anguish of millions."
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