Jay-Z has taken out a number of newspaper advertisements in honor of George Floyd.
The 50-year-old rapper and his company Roc Nation have had the full-page ads published in the likes of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, and Philadelphia Enquirer, with more still to be printed over the coming days.
The black-and-white advertisement includes a passage from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 Selma address.
It reads: “Only way we can really achieve freedom is to somehow hunker the fear of death. But if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.
“Deep down in our nonviolent creed is the conviction — that there are some things so dear, so things so precious, so things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for.
“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.
“So we’re going to stand up amid horses. We’re going to stand up right here, amid the billy-clubs. We’re going to stand up right here amid police dogs, if they have them. We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!”
The ad — which was shared on Roc Nation’s social media channels with the caption “in dedication to George Floyd. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd” — was signed by Jay, the parents of Botham Jean, DJ Henry and Antwon Rose II — three young black men all killed by police — as well as Van Jones, Charlamagne tha God, and organizations including The Innocence Project and Until Freedom.
