Oprah, Rihanna, The Rock call for action after the death of George Floyd: 'We speak your name'

Celebrities want justice after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed Monday after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes.

On Friday, former officer Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, reported the New York Times, after Floyd was suspected of paying for a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. After cell phone video of the escalating incident went viral, four other officers were fired and protests sparked in cities across the country, in the name of Floyd and other black people killed by police.

Over the weekend, Hollywood joined activists in person —Jamie Foxx, Nick Cannon and rapper Killer Mike spoke to crowds at various cities — and on social media.

In an Instagram video post, Beyonce promoted a handful of petitions calling for legal action, adding in a video, "We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We're broken and we're disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain."

Rihanna also shared on the social media platform, “...Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart! To the point of staying away from socials, just to avoid hearing the blood curdling agony in George Floyd’s voice again, begging over and over for his life!!!”

Oprah wrote of Floyd, “...His family and friends say he was a gentle giant. His death has now shown us he had a giant soul. If the largeness of a soul is determined by its sphere of influence, George Floyd is a mighty soul” adding, #GeorgeFloyd: We speak your name.”

Amy Schumer quoted some of Floyd’s last words including, “Please, I can’t breathe” and Hillary Clinton promoted the civil rights group Color of Change adding, “Black lives matter, and we have a lot of work to do to achieve true equality and justice for all.??”

The Rock and Justin Timberlake posted in solidarity, with the Trolls star writing, “Those of us who call ourselves allies need to do everything in our power to stand with the black community right NOW.” Lizzo also shared an emotional Instagram video, thanking “Black women that I have seen, always time and time again, take up leadership.”

Jamie Foxx shared two images, one of Chauvin and the other of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who launched a social justice movement in 2016 by kneeling during a football game to protest police brutality.

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