Meghan Markle has spoken out about the death of George Floyd which has sparked Black Lives Matter protests across the globe.
Mr. Floyd, 46, died of a heart attack after being restrained by a policeman in Minneapolis last week. Meghan issued an emotional plea to her former high school in a moving graduation speech.
The American former actress told high school pupils “George Floyd‘s life mattered” in a heartfelt speech about racism in America.
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Meghan and Prince Harry relocated to Meghan’s hometown Los Angeles in March.
Meghan admitted she was “really nervous” about speaking on the issue, but soon realized that “the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing.”
She told the all-girls school: “I wasn’t sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldn’t or it would get picked apart, and I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing – because George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor‘s life mattered and Philando Castile‘s life mattered and Tamir Rice‘s life mattered.”
“And so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know.”
She also told students of her own experiences living in LA during the 1992 race riots, which happened after police officers were seen beating Rodney King.
“I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home, and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky, and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings.”
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“I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles.”
“I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don’t go away.”
“I can’t imagine that at 17 or 18 … that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience,” she said.
She urged them to understand the situation as “a history lesson, not as your reality.”
Meghan added: “Now you get to be part of rebuilding … we are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it’s rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we.”
Watch Megan Markle’s speech below
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