The ad is captioned, “in dedication to George Floyd. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd,” and quotes a passage from a speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Al. In 1965
“So we will stand in the middle of horses. We will stand right here, in the middle of the belly clubs. We will stand right here among police dogs, if they have them,” says the ad. King. “We are going to stand up amid tear gas! We are going to stand up amidst anything you can muster, letting the world know that we are determined to be free!”
Along with Jay-Z, the letter is signed by Botham Jean’s parents, DJ Henry and Antwon Rose II, young black men tragically killed by the police, as well as Van Jones, Charlamagne tha God, Angela Rye, an attorney for the Floyd family. and various activists from organizations such as The Innocence Project and until Freedom.
Team ROC (the philanthropic arm of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation) teamed up with the others to place the ad in Tuesday editions of The New York Times, The Denver Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer , The Austin American Declaration, The Orlando Sentinel and The Atlanta Journal Constitution, among several other newspapers.
According to a Jay-Z representative, there will be more announcements published in the newspapers on Wednesday.
