Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
#BlackLivesMatter co-founder is calling for a Hollywood strike over Jacob Blake.
Blake, 29, was shot seven times in the back by police while trying to get in the car, and his children were in the back seat. Blake’s incident is just another moment of police brutality that follows several others, and now people around the world have had enough. Athletes are boycotting games, and now #BLM co-founder and TV writer Patrisse Cullors says Hollywood should join in the movement that athletes have ignited by halting work.
Cullors, a writer on Freeform’s “Good Trouble” said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that it’s time for the entertainment industry to get on board with the strike.
“I think it’s time for talent, writers, executives, the guild, and SAG to show up for Black lives as well. Join this strike. Now is the time, and our movement is really looking to unions to step in in a particular way and say ‘We’re going to hold back on allowing for the exploitation and the degradation of Black communities to continue under our watch.’ I think Hollywood can really show up in this moment,” Cullors said.
She went on to say that she and other members of the BLM organization are contacting people in the industry to see what kind of protest is possible, THR reports. “People are tired of having to say the same thing over and over again, and not seeing the change that we deserve from either party, frankly,” she said. “I think the work that we’re up against right now is to ensure that we can get Trump out of office, but also ensure that we can get the Democratic Party to truly create policies that will make sure that Black people are protected from vigilantes and from police torture.”
The strike and work stoppages are happening across the professional sports arena, including the WNBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and the MLS. Blake is now paralyzed from the waist down following the shooting. Kenosha-native #MarkRuffalo tweeted his disgust with this country’s history of racism and police brutality. “There is a dark sickness in this country. It’s on display for all of us to see with our own eyes.”
#DwayneJohnson put a hold on his Under Armor product launch saying that it’s “unbelievable we’re here again.” “Insecure” actor #KendrickSampson, who has heavily participated in recent protests, said that he is “exhausted and traumatized from marching, yelling and working to liberate us.” E! Daily Pop co-host #JustinSylvester walked off the remote set of Wednesday’s show “to stand in solidarity with Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, and Elijah McClain.”
