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Last year, Boosieaka Lil Boosie aka Boosie Badazzhad to dispute a false report that said he beat up resident turd, and acquitted child killer George Zimmerman in a Florida Walmart parking lot. "Hey, service announcement from Boosie. I never seen George [Zimmerman] in my life, but on TV," said Boosie in an Instagram post.

On Friday, hes at Prime Designer Loungelocated at 4819 E Busch Blvd. in Temple Crestto play what is going to be a very lit concert at Prime Designer Lounge where both BRS Kash (Throat Baby) and Erica Banks (Buss It) are supposed to play

Sunday. Friday, Feb. 5 10 p.m. $40 & up. Prime Designer Lounge, Tampa. eventbrite.com

See a list of Tampa Bays Safe & Sound live music venues here.

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Lil Boosie kicks off a weekend of Super Bowl concerts at Tampa's Prime Lounge in Temple Crest - Creative Loafing Tampa

Why Global Citizens Should Care

When Rihanna isnt selling out her beauty and clothing brands, or inspiring viral memes, shes using her platform to highlight the worlds most pressing social issues.

The superstar shared a CNN article about the escalation of a months-long protest staged by Indian farmers in New Delhi in a now widely shared tweet on Tuesday. Why arent we talking about this? she asked, adding the hashtag #FarmersProtest.

Rihannas post received backlash from pro-government supporters while other Indians applauded her for highlighting the situation.

Also shared by Greta Thunberg, the CNN article reported that the Indian government has blocked the internet in several districts surrounding the New Delhi area after protesters and police clashed over the weekend. Critics have called the shutdown undemocratic.

Indian farmers started demonstrating after three agricultural laws passed in September that they view as a threat to their livelihoods. The laws loosen restrictions on crop selling and farmers believe they could industrialize the agricultural sector and result in corporations taking advantage of them.

Rihannas post was just one of many ways the singer has given back over the years.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE)Global Ambassadorhasn't been shy about using her platform tocallon world leaders to help bring education to underserved communities around the world. Since 2017, she's joined Global Citizen's campaigns andtweeted at theleaders of the UK, France, Australia, Norway, Canada, Argentina, Japan, Finland, the Netherlands,and Germany, urgingthem to step up their governments' support for GPE, which works to ensure every child in the world has access to a fair, high-quality education.

Working alongside Global Citizens, Rihanna's campaigning efforts not only gotworld leaders to respond and increase their funding, but alsohelped getGermany todouble itscontributionto GPE twice.

She'salso the education ambassador of her home country Barbados and donated $5 million to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to shining a light on the farmer protests in India this week, here arefour other social movements Rihanna has recently shown support for and helped spread awareness on to her more than 100 million Twitter followers.

Related Stories Dec. 3, 2020 Why Indian Farmers Are Protesting for Their 'Very Survival' in New Delhi

The Myanmar military arrested President Win Myint, leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and activists, and then declared a one-year state of emergency in the city of Naypyidaw on Monday. Following the overwhelming victory of the National League for Democracy party in the November national elections, the military claimed unfounded election fraud and voting irregularities.

Rihanna tweeted a post in solidarity with the people of Myanmar on Tuesday. My prayers are with you #myanmar! she wrote.

The star retweeted a post from the organization Human Rights Watch calling for the international community to unite to demand that the Myanmar military accept the results of the recent election and relinquish power.

The #EndSARS hashtag first went viral in 2017 calling to dissolve Nigerias Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for carrying out violence against citizens without any consequences. Following new evidence of a brutal violent attack on Oct. 8, 2020, the online protest moved to the streets, and cities outside the country marched in solidarity.

A week later, on Oct. 20, 2020, Rihanna tweeted a photo of a protester holding a bloody Nigerian flag. Its such a betrayal to the citizen, the very people put in place to protect are the ones we are most afraid of being murdered by! she wrote.

Rihanna also shared words of encouragement for protesters.

Im so proud of your strength and not letting up on the fight for whats right! #ENDSARS, she added.

The murder of George Floyd a Black man murdered by a white police officer on camera in May 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota sparked a global uprising against racial injustice. Floyds death increased support for the Black Lives Matter movement, initially launched in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man who shot unarmed Black teen Trayvon Martin.

Rihanna shared a photo of Floyd on May 29, 2020: If intentional MURDER is the fit consequence for drugs or resisting arrest....then whats the fit consequence for MURDER???! #GeorgeFloyd #AhmaudArbery #BreonnaTaylor, she wrote.

Rihanna included hashtags for the names of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, two other Black Americans who were murdered in 2020.

A few months later, Rihanna reshared a petition by the racial justice organization Color of Change calling for the cops who shot Taylor to be held accountable.

Civil unrest erupted in Sudan in June 2019 following military crackdowns on pro-democracy protests. Protesters who rallied to stand up against President Omar al-Bashirs oppressive rule were met with violence from police.

Rihanna showed solidarity for Sudanese protesters on June 30, 2019, in a Twitter thread. They have a right to speak out and demand peace, justice, and a transition to civilian rule, she wrote in the first tweet. The star pointed out the violence that had occurred at previous protests and called for peace.

Praying for no more killings or abuse today, she wrote with a photo of protestors. Fight for human rights in #Africa and stand with protesters in #Sudan. #BlueforSudan #IAmSudaneseRevolution #Watch_Sudan_on_June30th.

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4 Times Rihanna Showed Solidarity for Social Movements Around the World - Global Citizen

The breach at the US Capitol. (AP Photo)

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To talk about the attempted Capitol coup, I must make frequent use of the word rage. Not the entitled white rage of the insurrectionists, which I and many others have already talked about enough. Im referring to my own angerthe rising rage I felt over hours of watching, in real time, white supremacists not so much laying siege to the national seat of government as strolling unbothered into the building. Thousands of white terrorists were allowed to spend a whole afternoon just hanging out on the Capitol lawn, chilling on its stairways, waving fascist flags from its terraces, a spectacle of menacing whiteness just doing its carefree thing.

Black folks like LaQuan McDonald and Freddie Gray were murdered for looking at cops the wrong way, but here I was watching police hand-holding white terrorists down the Capitol stairs. Police fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice for having a toy gun and being Black, but the white folks on my screen with real guns were allowed to shut down the government, brawl with cops, and walk out unscathed. Apparently, the white supremacist state prefers white supremacist terror to Black anti-racist resistance, even when that terror leaves a trail of broken police bodies and dead cops in its wake. The Capitol insurrection may have, at least for now, failed as a coup. But it succeeded in reminding the rest of us that American whiteness is American freedom.

My anger over all this has tested my ideals. In particular, my commitment to prison abolition. And as of this writing, Im failing that test miserably.

Let me say here that I still believe we should be working toward a society without prisons. The state offers incarceration as the sole remedy to every criminal harm, falsely conflating retribution with justice. This cycle of eye-for-an-eye revenge has put 2.3 million people behind barsmore than any other country in both raw numbers and per capitawith millions more living under correctional surveillance through parole and probation. We know Black and brown people are disproportionately targeted by a racist carceral system rife with physical violence, sexual abuses, and psychological torture inflicted by solitary confinement. And yet, study after study proves locking people up doesnt reduce crimein fact, mass incarceration has destroyed countless families and communities, yielding the very conditions that produce crime. I believe there are humane alternatives to imprisonment that, instead of perpetuating violence and trauma, seek to heal the harms done and address the structural issues that lead people to commit crime in the first place. No one, whatever their crime, is irredeemable. And by the same turn, no one deserves the brutal and dehumanizing treatment thats endemic to our carceral system.Related Article

Yet I still want every lawless white-supremacist Capitol insurrectionist to be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Intellectually and morally, I know nothing good will come out of a continued national reliance on the corrupt racist for-profit prison-industrial complex. But viscerally, my gut is seduced by the statist myth Ive been steeped in of jail as a route to justice. Not because I think revenge will yield a satisfying end, but because I want white-supremacist violence to be treated, perhaps for the first time in this countrys history, as a serious crime that demands accountability. And on this, Im not alone.

Writing at The Atlantic, prison abolitionists Neal Gong and Heath Pearson note that in response to law enforcements hands-off approach to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, some on the left have demanded harsher policing of right-wing extremism to match the often-brutal treatment of Black Lives Matter and leftist protest. That is, the very people who supported police reform or outright defunding over the summer seemed to want a crackdown.Current Issue

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In other words, like me, there are plenty of people who believe that increased criminalization isnt workingbut who want consequences for those criminals who never seem to be handed them. Part of me wants Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis cop who bore down on George Floyds neck until long after he had choked him to death, to spend the rest of his life in a prison cell. That same part hopes all three men who took part in the execution of Ahmaud Arberywho spat the words fucking nigger at Arbery as he lay dyingto never experience freedom again. I have wished that Donald Trump and his adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of the administrations cruelest immigration policies, were jailed in cages just like those they filled with migrant children. Ive hoped that Kyle Rittenhouse, the white 17-year-old who murdered two Black Lives Matter protesters in August and more recently flashed white-power signs in pics with Proud Boys, will grow into an adult behind bars. And I have fantasized about George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martins murderer who sued the teens bereaved parents for ruining his reputation, suffering a lifelong prison sentence. Thats just a partial list.

The only truly immutable law of this land is that Black life has no value to white America, an estimation that denies Black folks justice as both victims and offenders. Again and again, Black folks witness how a biased criminal systemfrom its cops to its courtsdelivers systematically unfair outcomes. What results is a kind of desperation for any semblance of fairness or justice. Michelle Alexander, pointing out how the state presents imprisonment as the one and only response to crime, writes that when we ask victims Do you want incarceration? what were really asking is Do you want something or nothing? And when any of us are hurt, and when our families and communities are hurting, we want something rather than nothing. The only thing on offer is prisons, prosecutors and police.

Black folks are rarely given even that binary choice. And so the conflict between my ideals and my rage is the desperate want to see Americas white-supremacist criminal systemwhich is, by design, unequipped to punish white supremacy for its harmsfinally work for Black folks. That is, I want something rather than nothing, just this once.

And I want white-supremacist violence to be treated like the danger it is. Black folks have been warning about the increasing threat of white terrorism since Barack Obamas election, and the fears of his assassination by white racists that accompanied it. Americas intelligence agencies have known that white terrorists are the greatest threat to national security since at least 2015, and that only became more true when an open white supremacist became president. But still there was no real response. When the state views peaceful Black protest as more of threat than armed white terrorism, its clear white supremacy is the goal.

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Yet somehow I foolishly thought that armed white supremacists swarming the Senate chambers to stalk politicians who disagree with them might trigger a self-preservationist response. Instead, a complicit Republican Party is seemingly ensuring an attempted coup will be followed by a successful coup. Recently, The Washington Post reported that, behind closed doors, Justice Department officials are debating waiving charges against some of the Capitol terrorists. And while authorities have since denied the report, most of the white insurrectionists who were apprehended have been allowed to await trial at home. The majority of the estimated 800 Capitol invaders were never even arrested.

Meanwhile, historians compare the Capitol attack and the culture of election lies and conspiracies around it to Germanys Stab in the Back myth that led to the rise of Naziism. German historian Michael Bremmer urges that everyone who precipitated and carried out the attempted insurrectionmust face swift and severe consequences for their actions. Princeton historian Rhae Lynn Barnes writes that slavery, Jim Crow and Reconstructions failures to prosecute treasonous Confederates ultimately led to a strain of white-supremacist terror that continues with the Capitol insurrection. Using history as a lesson, both scholars now caution that prosecution and prison is the only way to ensure democracy and national security. And honestly, that message reverberates with me right now.

I know the fear and vengeance that fuel my desire to see Capitol insurrectionists in jail is a reaction to the same systemic abuses that make prison abolition necessary. Of course, American law enforcement, an institution that evolved in part from slave patrols, fulfilled its long-standing role as the protector of white supremacy. Its also no surprise that members of a terrorist mob who spent months openly declaring their intent to kill lawmakers and occupy the Capitol are being undercharged with misdemeanor trespassing by federal officials, even as some Black Lives Matter activists face decades in jail for bringing umbrellas to a protest.

But putting those folks in cages would most likely only make them more vicious and violent, and more likely to externalize that violence toward Black people and other nonwhite folks. An abolitionist framework would attempt to locate the underlying and long-standing societal problems that encourage white-supremacist terror to thrive. This is not to absolve any of the full-grown adults who chose to commit multiple crimes, the very least of which was breaching the Capitol, and in some cases included brutal acts of violence and murder. But without question, the Capitol attack is a symptom of a disease in a white settler colony founded on genocide and enslavement, a sickness that was always lethal. If only we were actually committed to addressing the long-standing conditions that permit American fascism to grow, we could transform society in ways that would preclude future white-supremacist insurrections. Whats more, this unfair racist criminal punishment system cannot be trusted to provide equal justice. When, out of desperation, we lean into this corrupt and primitive system, we cosign its abuses and validate its crimes across the board. Thats why decarcerationnot just selectively, but for everyoneis the only way to ensure this treacherous system can longer inflict harm.

I recognize that truth, and yet, in this moment, find it hard to square so much else with its overwhelming logic. The orgiastic celebration of white power we saw at the Capitol, on the heels of so much white grievance in recent years, has made me look to the only system I know for answers it cannot provide. For everyone also struggling to reconcile the irreconcilable, I see you right now. I have a lot more work to do to bring my anger into alignment with my desire for things to be better. That will ultimately mean wanting abolition even for those I see as the worst.

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Im for Abolition. And Yet I Want the Capitol Rioters in Prison. - The Nation

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Our Responsibility is more than putting a ball in a basket Kobe Bryant

Its hard to believe. But yes, its been one year since the death of Kobe Bryant.

The pain of that is still very much there. A year later, my two greatest enduring and life affirming memories of Kobe Bryant are the same.

And they have absolutely nothing to do with basketball. Therell be plenty of hashing and rehashing of his legendary NBA exploits in the mountain of tributes and remembrances of him.

The first is the mild but very pleasant surprise I had watching Bryant at a peace walk in July 2014. He walked and stood shoulder to shoulder with Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martins mother. The occasion for the peace walk was the first anniversary of the grotesque acquittal of George Zimmerman of the murder of Martin.

Bryant minced no words. He called out the criminal justice system for the abomination in letting Zimmerman skip away scot free. The Zimmerman atrocity, though, to Bryant was a deeper sign of the terrible malaise in the criminal justice system that routinely demonizes and diminishes Black lives.

I, and other civil rights leaders and activists, can say that until the sky falls in. But a blast at the justice system coming from a superstar athlete in the heart of the African-American community on his home turf Los Angeles carries real weight.

Theres another ever-enduring memory I have of him.

Thats when he when he ripped off his Laker sweat jacket during pregame warmups at a game against the Sacramento Kings in December 2014. There it was, emblazoned on his black tee shirt, the words I cant breathe. The I was Eric Garner, choked to death by an NYPD undercover cop in July 2014. Millions saw and heard Garner scream those words as he writhed in the death grip of the officer while penned down on the ground.

What was even more memorable about Bryants bold statement about racial injustice was that he felt strongly enough about the issue to get his other Laker teammates to don similar black tee shirts with Garners death throe plea to the world etched on them.

These enduring memories of Kobe had even greater meaning for me because they showed a young man who had undergone an almost total epiphany in terms of his growth and awareness of the, at times, literal life and death struggle for racial justice. Its important to say that because it wasnt long before Bryant spoke out forcefully backing the fight for racial justice that he was lambasted from pillar to post by many Blacks, and that included a sharp reprimand from football great Jim Brown about his supposed lack of Blackness.

Bryant posted a tweet in March 2014 that seemed to soft peddle the Zimmerman acquittal. Bryant took much heat for this, but he did not dig his heels in and defiantly scream about his freedom to express his opinion. Keep in mind that Bryant got lots of raves from others for allegedly going against the alleged politically correct crowd by taking a contrarian position.

But clearly, he thought hard about the criticism, and the heinous implications of the judicial travesty. He quickly reversed gear and called the verdict exactly what it was, Travon Martin was wronged THATS my opinion and thats what I believe the FACTS showed. The system did not work.

When you really think about it, though, it really wasnt terribly hard for Bryant to switch roles from basketball superstar Bryant to racial justice activist Bryant.

Despite Bryants careful and cautious downplay of race during much of his playing career, for another swath of the public he was still a Black sports icon. The price a Black sports icon pays for resting on that high perch can be steep. One misstep and he or she can become the instant poster child for all thats allegedly wrong with celebrity, sport and society.

Bryant got an early taste of what could happen when theres even the tiniest slip. That was the charge against him of sexual assault in a small Colorado town in 2003. The case was ultimately dropped. But It was a harsh wake-up call.

There are two reasons for the walk on pins and needles existence of Black sports superstars. When Bryant tore up the NBA, he became the gatekeeper for the storehouse of fantasies and delusions of a sports crazed public as well as advertisers, sportswriters, and TV executives in desperate need of vicarious escape, titillation, excitement, and profits.

Bryant was the ultimate in the sports hero who fulfilled that empty need. He was expected to move in the rarified air above the fray of human problems while raising societys expectation of whats good and wholesome. He was handsomely rewarded for fulfilling that fantasy, if they stick to matters on the court or gridiron. When they stray from that, think Kaepernick, whom, by the way Bryant strongly backed and even embraced at a tennis match.

The other reason for caution by Bryant and others is his fame and fortune.

Black super stars cause much media and public hurt when they supposedly betray the collective self-delusion of sport as pure and pristine. That stirs even greater jealousy and resentment. Thats evident in the constant fan and sportswriter carping about how spoiled, pampered and over paid men such as Bryant and Black athletes supposedly are. The first hint of any bad behavior by them ignites a torrent of self-righteous columns and commentary on the supposed arrogant, above the law Black athlete.

Bryant well understood the harsh and glaring public and media fishbowl that he was cast in. But in the end, he did the right thing and cast his stardom, celebrity status, and revered sports name with the Trayvon Martins of the world and the fight for racial justice.

This is the Kobe Bryant I choose to remember.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of Why Black Lives Do Matter (Middle Passage Press). He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network.

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Earl Ofari Hutchinson: The Kobe Bryant I Chose To Remember - Black Star News

Photo: A Case for 2020

Likely the understatement of the century, 2020 was really bad. The worst year in living memory is perhaps a more appropriate title as the world could only stand still and cower while we were plagued with what felt like ceaseless attacks on human existence. As COVID-19 became a seemingly insurmountable force only a few months into the year, hallmarks of social life such as movie theaters, restaurants, and even workplaces boarded up in hopes to slow down the spread of the virus. Millions of Americans faced unprecedented threats as business closures and a lack of substantial government stimulus packages increased difficulty to pay bills and keep hardworking individuals afloat.

Related article: 2020: An Outstanding Year For LGBTQ Representation Against All Odds

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On top of the coronavirus, 2020 hosted a chaotic moment in politics as the presidential election highlighted the volatile opposition between both sides of the political spectrum. President Donald Trump fanned the flames of the divide through his politicization of mask-wearing, increased baseless suggestions of fraudulent votes, and outreach to White supremacist organizations like the Proud Boys. And as if all of that wasnt enough, it appeared as though every day a side terror would arise, whether it be killer wasps or the deaths of icons like Kobe Bryant and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

It is imperative that these tragedies are met with sincere respect and resolution; however, it would be an even more detrimental mistake to completely overlook the highlights of 2020. From the breakthroughs in entertainment in the face of a pandemic as well as progress in social justice movements, there are inspiring moments from the past year that could not have been realized without the motivation of existential crisis. In 2020 we were all tested, and though it was difficult to undergo, here is a place to celebrate the achievements of the resilient human spirit that were accomplished last year.

Related article: MUST WATCH Hollywood Insiders CEO Pritan Ambroases Love Letter to Black Lives Matter VIDEO

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Despite the closures of movie theaters and production studios, many great films were tenacious enough to reach audiences in this treacherous year for Cinema. One of the most star-studded and critically acclaimed movies of 2020 was Netflixs Ma Raineys Black Bottom, a period film featuring Viola Davis as the Mother of Blues, Ma Rainey, a cultural figure whose contribution to the blues genre has been swept under the rugs over years of Black erasure. Ma Raineys Black Bottom also includes the last, and perhaps most dazzling, performance from late superstar Chadwick Boseman. Both he and Davis are expected to be recognized during awards season for their captivating and imperative work making space for beautiful Black characters in film in 2020.

Another film that made 2020 worth enduring is Carey Mulligans Promising Young Woman, a thought-provoking and invigorating response to todays culture of male violence against women. Films with such a strong feminist lense have very rarely come to fruition and we can all be grateful that 2020 offered such a strong showing of womens empowerment in Promising Young Woman. In the vain of movies that highlighted stories largely unfamiliar from film screens until 2020, Lee Isaac Chungs latest work, Minari, has emerged as a masterpiece since its limited release debut. Exploring the themes of family, Asian culture, and American assimilation, Minari is a vital fabric in the extraordinarily diverse tapestry of 2020 cinema. Finally, the Laverne Cox-produced documentary, Disclosure cemented 2020 as an imperative year in LGBTQ representation as trans actors, filmmakers, and critics were given the platform to analyze the mistakes of poor trans representation of medias past and aspire toward a more inclusive, trans-friendly future in entertainment.

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Click here to read more on Hollywood Insiders vision, values and mission statement here Media has the responsibility to better our world Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy.

In addition to film, 2020 hosted a wealth of escapist and ground-breaking television series to cherish for the years to come. Netflixs break-out phenomenon, The Queens Gambit, is a riveting series challenging the limitation of boundless ambition that reached an astounding 62 million households in its first month of release on the streaming service. HBOs original series from the brilliant mind of Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You, dumbfounded critics as the poignant and at times experimental approach to the traumatic aftermath of sexual abuse surpassed the wildelst expectations for that television can accomplish in 2020. Other noteworthy series of last year that merit recognition include Hulus Mrs. America, a tribute to the women that built the foundation for todays intersectional and robust feminist movement, as well as Disney+s second season of The Mandalorian, which provided an extravagant, action-packed escape during the most trying months of a trying year.

Lastly, the impressive triumphs in the music industry provided many of the most renowned in recent memory, even benefitting from the restrictive coronavirus pandemic in many cases. 2020 started off strong with The Weeknds universally praised, After Hours, a pop-R&B fusion masterpiece that exposed the tortured artists most vulnerable insecurities and reckless decisions yet. Early 2020 also saw the return of superstar-in-the-making, Dua Lipa, as she released her groove-inducing sentimental-pop album, Future Nostalgia, to the thrill of critics and pop fanatics alike.

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Beyond albums like The Weeknd and Lipas that were produced pre-COVID, there were plenty of exhilarating albums that were made during the quarantine, proving not even the likes of the coronavirus could stifle a musicians passion. Hyperpop songstress Charli XCX of Boom Clap and Fancy fame began this trend with the release of her latest album, How Im Feeling Now, a wholly quarantine-created record that reflected on life during COVID and dreamed of a future beyond it. Other artists soon joined XCX in the endeavor to create from home, such as Fiona Apple with the critically beloved Fetch the Bolt Cutters and Taylor Swift, who produced not one but two immaculate albums during 2020s quarantine in the form of her career-defining Folklore and Evermore. Each of these artists utilized the quarantine to their advantage, delivering uniquely intimate and stimulating albums that could have only come about in the dire environment 2020 provided.

Artists werent the only ones to step up to the plate when faced with the adversity 2020 brought with it. Americas racist foundation, one that relied on the exploitation and oppression of slaves, has revealed itself to be a stubborn force for progressives to dismantle time and time again throughout history. From the Civil War to Jim Crow laws to the recent murders of Black men and boys like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner at the hands of law enforcement, the malignant institutional racism of the United States has incessantly reared its ugly head. Luckily, just as hate exists in America so do brave American patriots who stand up to racism and demand a better future for people of color. The Black Lives Matter Movement initiated with the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man who murdered Trayvon Martin, in 2013; however, it was not until the disturbing and disheartening murder of George Floyd in May of 2020 that the awe-inspiring potential of the Black Lives Matter Movement was realized and recognized as a global force for justice.

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The response to the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement was one of shared pain and frustration for the state of Americas treatment of its Black citizens, but it was through the utilization of the nations common anguish that Black Lives Matter became the largest movement in U.S. history in 2020. According to The New York Times, on June 6th, 2020, half a million people turned out to support the Black Lives Matter protests in about 550 places across the nation resulting in about 15 million to 26 million people in the United States [participating] in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks.

Although this unprecedented unity across the United States only came about as a consequence of unparalleled tragedy, this call for change is one of the most significant developments in American history. The global attention this past summers Black Lives Matter protests acclimated produced a visible shift in political rhetoric as then presidential hopeful, Joe Biden, was pressured to declare his solidarity with the movement, Black Lives Matter, period. Im not afraid to say it. While the nation awaits to see how President Biden will enact justice for Black lives, the acknowledgement of the Black Lives Matter Movement from a 78 year old president is a feat that Black activists have worked tirelessly for over centuries. Altogether, the atrocities of 2020 are virtually immeasurable; however, the beauty of the art produced and the social progress made indicate that 2020 is not a year to be entirely discarded. Although it was nobodys ideal set of 365 days, remembering and honoring the tragedy of 2020 while cherishing its silver linings, has proven success in making even the most horrific years bearable.

By Christopher Davis

An excerpt from the love letter: Hollywood Insiders CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, Hollywood Insider fully supports the much-needed Black Lives Matter movement. We are actively, physically and digitally a part of this global movement. We will continue reporting on this major issue of police brutality and legal murders of Black people to hold the system accountable. We will continue reporting on this major issue with kindness and respect to all Black people, as each and every one of them are seen and heard. Just a reminder, that the Black Lives Matter movement is about more than just police brutality and extends into banking, housing, education, medical, infrastructure, etc. We have the space and time for all your stories. We believe in peaceful/non-violent protests and I would like to request the rest of media to focus on 95% of the protests that are peaceful and working effectively with positive changes happening daily. Media has a responsibility to better the world and Hollywood Insider will continue to do so.

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A Case for 2020: Reasons Why The Worst Year in Recent History Wasnt Too Bad - Hollywood Insider