Hollywood couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have responded to the outrage caused by the demise of George Floyd by making a donation to the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Legal Defense Fund.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is an organization that strives for racial justice through structural changes to expand democracy and eliminate disparities via litigation, advocacy, and public education.
Reynolds and Lively spoke on Instagram, vowing to be allies to the black community.
We’ve never had to worry about preparing our kids for different rules of law or what might happen if we’re pulled over in the car,” the parents of three’s statement began. “We don’t know what it’s like to experience that life day in and day out. We can’t imagine feeling that kind of fear and anger. We’re ashamed that in the past we’ve allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is.
We’ve been teaching our children differently than the way our parents taught us. We want to educate ourselves about other people’s experiences and talk to our kids about everything, all of it…especially our own complicity. We talk about our bias, blindness and our own mistakes. We look back and see so many mistakes which have led us to deeply examine who we are and who we want to become. They’ve led us to huge avenues of education.
We’re committed to raising our kids so they never grow up feeding this insane pattern and so they’ll do their best to never inflict pain on another being consciously or unconsciously. It’s the least we can do to honor not just George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner, but all the black men and women who have been killed when a camera wasn’t rolling.
Last week we contributed $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. We stand in awe of this organization and its leader, Sherrilyn Ifill. And this is just a start. We also pledge to stay educated and vote in every local election. We want to know the positions of school board nominees, sheriffs, mayors, councilpersons. We want to know their positions on justice. But mainly, we want to use our privilege and platform to be an ally. And to play a part in easing pain for so many who feel as though this grand experiment is failing them.”
In their conclusion, the couple encouraged their followers to get involved by donating to similar organizations, signing petitions, and reaching out to their local reps to demand action.
See the post below:
