George Floyd Protests: Jamie Foxx, Rev. Amos Brown speak at peaceful kneel-in at San Francisco City Hall

ByJocelyn Fiset KGO logo

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Jamie Foxx, Rev. Amos Brown speak at peaceful SF kneel-in

Jamie Foxx, Mayor London Breed and the Reverend Amos Brown were among many powerful speakers at the peaceful kneel-in event held at San Francisco City Hall amid protests over the death of George Floyd.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Actor and activist Jamie Foxx, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Reverend Amos Brown and other black leaders staged a peaceful kneel-in on the steps of City Hall on Monday, where they raised their voices in support of their community following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

VIDEO: Mayor Breed delivers powerful message SF kneel-in

Brown called on Americans to use their voting power to remove President Donald Trump from the White House during the 2020 presidential election.

"There has been a resurgence of racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, chauvinism and all of these evil-isms that have divided the human family since one Donald Trump got a residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C." said Brown. "We must go from protest to production. Now, I want to see if you will accept the charge to produce some votes this November and give Donald Trump a ticket out of the White House."

Foxx took the stage to voice his feelings about the death of Floyd and what he thinks needs to be done.

"We have to make sure that once this is done, that we have to try to make change occur when it comes to police brutality," he said. "There has to be a deterrent. If that man can be handcuffed and that man can sit on that man's neck for that long and feel comfortable about it, that means he's not afraid of what's going to happen. We have to change the language. They have to be worried that, 'I could go to jail for this.' They have to respect us."

INTERVIEW: Jamie Foxx, Rev. Amos brown talk about George Floyd protests, change they want to see

Actor and activist Jamie Foxx and Reverend Amos Brown talk about George Floyd protests and the change they want to see.

He also had a powerful message for his friends in Hollywood who have a large influence, "You gotta get out here. You gotta come out here, you can't sit back, you can't tweet, you can't text, you gotta get out here."

Foxx went on to say, "You gotta understand, people are hurting. All I could say is that when you're here and you see how people are hurting, you can understand what it is as opposed to being in your bedroom or your living room and saying 'hey, I don't like this.' Get out of the cul-de-sac and come down here on the courtroom steps."

"Let them see your face," he said.

Foxx says when he's needed, he'll come and do whatever is needed because, "At the end of the day, the most important thing is this: I'm still worried that they may try to pull one on us. Even now, they say we didn't see what we saw, and I continuously say, how can we see it as a murder and they see it as a misunderstanding? The work is still here."

He also had a message for those in the crowd who, while they have not experienced discrimination or police brutality firsthand, were there to support their community.

"White people," he said. "It goes a long way to hear you step up."

Mayor London Breed also spoke of her pride in not only being the mayor of San Francisco, but also a black woman with the power to make difference. "The reason why I got involved in public office in the first place had everything to do with wanting to make sure that I'm the norm and not the exception."

"I appreciate all of you for being here, I appreciate those who care and are genuinely concerned," she said. "But I want to say one thing: Black Lives Matter is nobody's joke. I'm tired of people treating it that way. I'm tired of people masking their racism in Black Lives Matter. It is not a joke. It is not a joke. It is born out of pain, it is born out of racism that we are gonna fight against. It is born out of our struggle, our blood, sweat and tears, for all that we have struggled through in this country. Don't get it twisted. It is not a joke."

Of the unrest over the death of Floyd, she said, "For those of you who are using this movement as a way to push violence, to go after other black people, to tear us down... we will not tolerate that. Don't get it twisted. I am the mayor but I am a black woman first."

"I am angry, I am hurt, I am frustrated. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don't want to see one more black man die at the hands of law enforcement. That's what this movement is about. Not one more."

Take a look at the latest stories and videos about the investigation into George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.

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