Actress Lauren London paid homage to Darnella Frazier, the teen who bravely videotaped the murder of George Floyd, during the 2021 BET Awards on Sunday, June 27, 2021.
Broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, the BET Awards became the latest major institution or program to recognize Frazier. She kept recording convicted murderer Derek Chauvin, even as she screamed repeatedly for the former cop to take his knee off Floyd’s neck on Memorial Day 2020 in Minneapolis. Floyd perished that day, and on Friday, June 25, 2021, a judge sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years in prison for his crime.
London, 36, the beloved actress and longtime partner of the late rap icon Nipsey Hussle, praised Frazier for her “transformative heroics” that immediately changed the sociopolitical trajectory of the country.
“Tonight, we’d like to shine a light on the brave and transformative heroics of Darnella Frazier,” London began her speech. “This young woman, who captured a moment in history that reflects our brutal past, helping to forge a way forward with her cellphone in hand, she recorded 9 minutes and 29 seconds of social injustice, highlighting the murder of George Floyd.”
Frazier, 18, was not able to attend in person, but London nevertheless informed her that her valiant act cannot possibly be quantified in its importance.
“Sometimes in life, it just takes one person to prove that we play a large part in getting the accountability we deserve. She didn’t set out to change the world, she set out to do what was right,” London said.
The recognition comes on the heels of Frazier earning a Pulitzer Prize, the highest award in American journalism, for her courageous act.
