Kendrick Sampson is using his voice to fight the injustices in Hollywood.
The “Insecure” actor penned an emotional letter to the entertainment industry, asking Hollywood to divest from the police and invest in the Black community.
“To our allies in Hollywood,” he addressed the letter. “Hollywood has a privilege as a creative industry to imagine and create. We have significant influence over culture and politics. We have the ability to use our influence to imagine and create a better world. Yet, historically and currently, Hollywood encourages the epidemic of police violence and culture of anti-Blackness.”
The letter was written with the help of Tessa Thompson and Black Lives Matter co-founders Patrisse Cullors and Melina Abdullah.
“The way that Hollywood and mainstream media have contributed to the criminalization of Black people, the misrepresentation of the legal system, and the glorification of police corruption and violence has had dire consequences on Black lives. This includes stories that demonize our mental health as violent. These stories contribute to the killings of Black people like Deborah Danner, who was murdered by NYPD Sgt. Hugh Barry,” he writes. “It also includes the perpetuation of transphobic stories which are used to justify the murder of Tony McDade in Florida, Nina Pop in Missouri, Dominique Fells in Philadelphia, and Riah Milton in Ohio. We must end the exaltation of officers and agents that are brutal and act outside of the law as heroes. These portrayals encourage cops like Derek Chauvin, the murderer of George Floyd.”
Three hundred Black artists and executives signed the piece, including Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira, Billy Porter, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Issa Rae, Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis and many more.
The new letter follows the Black Artists for Freedom petition, which called for cultural institutions to “break ties with the police.”
