Video: Chance The Rapper, Beyoncé Appear In Anti-Police Brutality PSA

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 13, 2016 9:01PM

A powerful new video called "23 Ways You Could Be Killed If You Are Black in America" was just released by Alicia Keys and her We Are Here Movement.

The stark black and white PSA employs celebrities including Keys, Bono, Chris Rock, Adam Levine and Rosario Dawson. Each person simply repeats the circumstances that led to the violent death of a black individual. After each circumstance a photo of the victim fades in to hammer the tragic point home. The effect is chilling.

Beyoncé says, "Riding in your girlfriend's car with a child in the back" and then Philando Castile's visage fills the screen. Chance the Rapper say, "Making eye contact" before we see Freddie Gray. A$AP Rocky says "Calling for help after an accident" about Renisha McBride. Common says "Walking away from police" as precursor to Mario Woods' photos then Queen Latifah says "Walking towards police" in reference to Laquan McDonald's death.

As Keys says, the purpose of the video is to "demand radical transformation to heal the long history of systemic racism so that all Americans have the equal right to live."

Read more about what led to the video's creation in this moving post by Mic's Jamilah King.