Over the past few days, John Boyega became the topic of conversation after his impassioned speech during a Black Lives Matter protest in London drew the attention of people across the world. Now, the Star Wars actor has expressed his gratitude to the people who have reached out in support.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Boyega expressed his appreciation on his Instagram page, expressing his desire to continue using his platform to advocate against the injustices and inequalities that his community faces. He also called on everyone to work together towards “real change.”
In the Instagram post, Boyega was thankful for all the supportive messages he received, although he was also quick to downplay the speech he delivered last week, saying that it may not even be enough when the greater picture of the protests was taken into account.
Boyega also underscored the importance of taking the attention and anger generated by the current movement and using it to inspire other people to come up with coming together and coming up with “new ways of thinking, building, and growing." He revealed that he has been having conversations about black businesses, ownership, and support and that he hopes that it leads to sustainable and tangible ideas.
In his speech during the London protest, Boyega called on his fellow protesters to keep the movement going as well as maintaining the peaceful nature of it. He also underscored how their “brothers and sisters” around the world would see these protests as a sign of support.
As pointed out by the Independent, Boyega had also expressed some apprehension about the future of his career after delivering his speech at the London protest. However, Boyega can probably put his worries to rest as a number of industry figures have already come out to voice their support for him.
Disney and Lucasfilm, the production outfit behind the Star Wars films, have already called Boyega a hero. The Lucasfilm Twitter account also denounced the “evil of racism” and called for it to stop.
Aside from Boyega, Spike Lee was another prominent Black figure in the entertainment industry who have voiced support for the ongoing protests brought about by the killing of George Floyd, saying he found encouraging how diverse the crowd at the protests were.
Other celebrities that have seen in the protests sparked by George Floyd’s killing include Ariana Grande, Cole Sprouse, Emily Ratajkowski, Kehlani, Miguel, Machine Gun Kelly, Paris Jackson, Tessa Thompson, Tinashe, and Timothee Chalamet.