Meagan Good knows that as a Black woman with a platform, she has to be “responsible.” It’s why she’s joined the millions on the front lines who are protesting against police brutality after the murder of George Floyd last month.
“I have a lot of emotion and I am furious, honestly. I mean, obviously,” she told ESSENCE last Friday during a chat on Instagram Live. “I still have to use wisdom in my words. I still have to make sure that I’m not being divisive, that I am trying to bring us together and shed light…and [offer] real tangible solutions and ways to proactively help make change versus just being emotional, which I have the right to be.”
Like so many other Americans, and citizens around the world, the Girlfriends Check In star is struggling to accept that Floyd was senselessly killed by White former police officer Derek Chauvin. It didn’t help that in response, many peacefully protested only to be met with more violence at the hands of those who were sworn in to “serve and protect.”
“People are out there peacefully protesting, which they have a right to do in their streets, and because of the cops aggression and because of the way they were being brutalized to the point of hospitalization,” Good explained, “that is why a lot of the looting started. And even though I don’t condone the looting, I understand it.”
Good said that she’s “thankful that the news ultimately did start reporting the truth” about the protests in Los Angeles. Still, she has a message for those who’ve sacrificed their time, energy, money and bodies by protesting in the streets.
“I don’t want people to stop. I don’t want people to get tired,” she said. “We need to stay out there.”
The actress added that while there has been a lot of progress, the killers of Breonna Taylor still haven’t been arrested or charged.
For those who may not know what to do during these trying times, Good has some advice: Sign petitions, call offices to hold authorities accountable and donate to organizations, if possible. And, of course, vote.
“We are in the middle of the biggest civil rights movement in the history of man,” she said, noting that all 50 states and 18 countries around the world have been protesting. “The more pressure we add, the more that they have to do something.”