Thousands of people across the country rallied in solidarity to support black trans-rights, Sunday.  

Michael Noble Jr. / Getty Images

Black transgender activist Raquel Willis explained the movement to CNN in an interview: "This collective of folks is particularly powerful because it's modeling what is possible when you do have allies and folks who do care and also want to make sure that they're building something that speaks to the hearts of the actual people that they're representing," she said. "So often that doesn't happen." 

Willis led the crowd in New York City in a chant during the protest saying "I believe in my power," while the crowd echoed the words back. "I believe in your power. I believe in our power. I believe in black trans power."

Melania Brown, the sister of Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco, a black transgender inmate at Rikers Island who died last year, spoke to the same crowd as well.

"Black trans lives matter," she said. "My sister's life mattered. All of the loved ones we have lost, all of these beautiful girls that we have lost. There lives matter. We have to protect them."

"We can't just talk about trans people when they're dying," Eliel Cruz, one of the co-organizers of the event, explained to CNN. "But what are we doing actively and intentionally to create space for them to be safe and well?"

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara showed his support for Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only black driver, during Sunday's Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Chris Graythen / Getty Images

"What's right is right, and what's wrong is wrong, and I think Bubba's a testament to that," Kamara told ESPN "With them being able to, I guess, step away from that, that's a huge step. And flipping the script, just rewriting the narrative on what this sport is and what it stands for. There's obviously some people that are against that decision of removing the flag, and I think there's way more people that are for that decision. Because I think there's a certain stigma on the type of fans that support this sport, and there's some bad ones. But I don't think the bad ones represent all the good ones."

Kamara tweeted out his support for NASCAR, after the organization banned Confederate flags sporting events, earlier this week.

Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll says he regrets not signing former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick visited the team in 2017 after opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers.

Abbie Parr / Getty Images

“I regret that we weren’t the one way back when that just did it just to do it, even though I thought that it wasn’t the right fit necessarily for us at the time,” Carroll said. “The reason it wasn’t the right fit is because I held him in such a high regard I didn’t see him as a backup quarterback and I didn’t want to put him in that situation with Russ. It just didn’t feel like it would fit right. That’s the way I felt about it. So I just wish it would happen, and I wish we would have been a part of it when the time was available then. We’re kind of set up right now, so football-wise, it doesn’t seem to fit us like I said. But there’s a lot of time here. We’ll see what happens.”

Carroll says, in 2017, he thought Kaepernick was too skilled for a backup position and was confident he would be signed as a starter elsewhere. 

In regard to the Seahawks signing Kaepernick now, Carroll had this to say: “I like our setup right now. I love the way Geno [Smith] fits together in our role and all that, so it’s not really available at this time for us. But I wouldn’t hesitate — I’ve said this ongoing for years — if Russ ever got tangled up and couldn’t play or something, Kap would have been an extraordinary candidate to take over because of the dynamics of his play. We’ve always really cherished the unique qualities that players bring, and he had a unique style that we couldn’t [have] respected more. But as the backup, I hope he’s going to get a chance to do that because really he deserves to be playing.”

[Via]

Houston Texans Head Coach Bill O’Brien plans to take a knee during the National Anthem, in solidarity with his players, to protest racial inequality and police brutality.

Julio Aguilar / Getty Images

“Yeah, I’ll take a knee — I’m all for it,” O’Brien told the Houston Chronicle. “The players have a right to protest, a right to be heard and a right to be who they are. They’re not taking a knee because they’re against our flag. They’re taking a knee because they haven’t been treated equally in this country for over 400 years.”

O’Brien attended George Floyd’s funeral, joining several other players and staff members associated with the Texans.

“It wasn’t a conscious effort,” O’Brien told the Chronicle about the team attending Floyd’s funeral. “It wasn’t like we had a conversation together and decided to do it. I think we just said enough is enough, and we’ve got to do what’s right. As an organization, we’re part of the conversation, and we want to do our part.”

Floyd died on May 25, after former police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes. Protests erupted around the world afterward, calling for drastic policing reform and the defunding of police.

[Via]

He's always been a radical voice for black culture, but Ice Cube has turned things up a notch on social media in recent weeks. The former N.W.A. rapper burst onto the music scene with a controversial classic that spoke of defying authority, but there are Ice Cube fans who see him as the family-friendly actor and not as a political voice. His recent tweets have caused a bit of backlash as Ice Cube has been accused of sharing anti-Semitic images, but no matter what people had to say about his viewpoints, he remains steadfast. 

Michael Loccisano / Staff / Getty Images

On Friday (June 12), a news story out of Florida began to circulate online. The articles and images of protests have dwindled in recent days, but rest assured they are still taking place nationwide. However, things took a turn in Tampa Bay when hundreds of looters reportedly stormed a local Walmart and made off with $100K worth of items. A video clip of the incident from store security cameras hit news stations, and the videos were shared on social media. 

Ice Cube wanted to make sure that no one involved found themselves in trouble, so when he saw that CBS News tweeted the clip of the looters, he offered up a solution. "No arrest and I’ll cover the $100k. Deal?" We're curious as to whether or not he'll be able to pull this one off, but the gesture speaks volumes. Check out the tweet below.

Chika has been at the majority of Los Angeles protests following the murder of George Floyd, using her platform to promote change and seek justice for the countless people of color killed by police violence and racism. She has not been shy about calling out others, either for their lack of action at this time or for misusing their platforms. This week, she came for YG after being part of the protest.

"YG said he here to shoot a video," tweeted rapper Chika from the crowd. "I would like to go home. this feels incredibly disingenuous. but im glad people showed up. shooting a music video while breonna taylor’s killers are still walking the streets is fucking disgusting."

Kendrick Lamar, Russell Westbrook, and DeMar DeRozan joined in protests in Compton, Sunday. From 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM, the crowd marched from Gateway Towne Center in Los Angeles to Compton City Hall, for the “Compton Peace Walk."

Mario Tama / Getty Images

Lamar, Westbrook, and DeRozan are all from the Los Angeles area. 

Westbrook spoke to the crowd during the protest. "Continue to stick together," he said. "Continue to fight for one another. Continue to lift each other up. … Continue to protect your own, protect your team, protect your family. In times like this, we need to stick together. Put a fist up."

"Let's get a moment of silence. For our lost ones. For their families. For their struggles," Westbrook added with his fist in the air.

"It’s impossible for you to understand what happens today if you don’t understand the past. Let’s continue to fight," Westbrook added on an  Instagram post.

Compton Mayor Aja Brown promoted the protest on Facebook: “Our kids are watching us and they deserve to live in a better world, a better city that ensures their peace and protection, full liberty and justice for all,” she said.

Check out photos of Lamar, Westbrook, and DeRozan from the "Compton Peace Walk" below.

Lil Baby shared some moving black-and-white shots taken of him at one of the Black Lives Matter protests in Atlanta recently. He posted the photos to Instagram on Saturday (June 6th) with the caption, “It’s A Bigger Picture …”

In the photos, Baby can be seen wearing a black T-shirt that reads “BLACK LIVES MATTER.” He’s also sporting a black face mask with the words “NO JUSTICE NO PEACE” written on it. The rapper appears to have arrived to the protest on his bike, but later ditched it to march with the rest of the crowd. In the second photo, Baby has a megaphone around his neck, and in the third, he stands next to Atlanta city councilman, Antonio Brown, while he gives a speech. According to a post on Antonio’s account, the two of them had just met the day before.

“Met a dope dude named Dominique,” Antonio wrote on some photos of Baby at the protest, referring to his real first name. “A brother whose seen struggle but also recognizes his divine power to call forth all that he seeks in life. When we first met he showed up in a worn black t-shirt, some joggers and @balenciaga sneakers. No jewelry or entourage. His driver patiently waited outside while we talked for hours. I thought because everyone called him @lilbaby_1 that he would have this huge ego and only care about superficial shit. Instead he spoke about how much he loved business, fashion and lifting up his community. He’s only been rapping for 3 years and has completely dismantled an industry. The hood he grew up in and the projects that raised him made him baby. A rebel with a cause, disrupting with a purpose bigger than himself.”

Paras Griffin/Getty Images for LVL XIII Luxury Footwear

“The next day we marched down Mitchell Street with our fist in the air yelling – No Justice, No Peace as he leaned over and whispered in my ear, ‘this is what matters!'” Antonio continued. “See he understood his calling was greater than the streets – it was to change the streets. To inspire the people to see beyond their environment and conditions that silently kept them unconsciously imprisoned. After marching for an hour, a white business owner brought out some waters to the crowd of walking protesters. As he was handing out the waters Lil Baby ran over to him and gave him $500. I looked up at him and smiled because if I was rich that’s something I would’ve done. As the protest came to an end, I watched in silent awe as [T.I.] graciously walked up to him and greeted him like a King. It was inspiring to see one generation salute the next as they prepare to take their rightful place in Hip Hop.”

Lil Baby recently revealed that he’s been working on some new music about police brutality.

Actor Michael B. Jordan gave a powerful call to action during Saturday's Black Lives Matter demonstration in Los Angeles, telling Hollywood insiders they "need to go on notice."

Rich Fury / Getty Images

"We are in the heart of Hollywood right now, one of the world’s most powerful industries and I am an active member of that. And they need to go on notice," he said. "Anybody that deals with me, if you have racist beliefs, if you have a racist bone in your body, if you're not with me, if you don't stand with me and people that look like me, you don't need to be with me. I use my power to demand diversity but it's time that studios and agencies … do so."

"You committed to a 50/50 gender parity in 2020, where is the challenge to commit to black hiring? Black content, led by black executives, black consultants … So let us bring our darkness to the light? We're done with discrimination," he added.

Insecure star Kendrick Sampson also made an appearance during the event.

"I want you to spread the word, this is factual: The police system that we know today is based on slave-catching," Sampson said. "... The policing system started with a bad seed. It has grown a bad tree and it bears bad fruit ... We need to imagine a world free of police terror. We call ourselves an industry of creatives. Where the fuck is your imagination?"

Check out footage from the event below.

View this post on Instagram

#justice #blmla #bldpwr ? @producertommy

A post shared by Black Love (@blacklove) on Jun 6, 2020 at 1:14pm PDT

[Via]

It looks like not everybody is all that familiar with Playboi Carti‘s discography, especially self-proclaimed “smart Conservative pages” on Instagram. On Friday, @conservative.genius, a right-wing IG account that claims to post “Facts and Logic” as well as “Smart Conservative Content,” shared an anti-protest graphic that included a collage of photos. Along with the shots from recent demonstrations as a message that read, “if their cause is worth hearing, why do they resort to this?” However, among the photos of burning cop cars and establishments was one image that didn’t quite seem to fit. This account appears to have mistaken the album cover for Playboi Carti’s 2018 debut album, Die Lit, for a Black Lives Matter protest photo.

Of course, Carti’s diehard fans quickly took notice of this hilarious blunder, and promptly roasted whoever was behind this “smart” account. “THE DIE LIT ALBUM COVER dude calls himself a genius, yet cant differentiate a real picture from an album cover LMFAOOO delete ya entire account sir,” one user wrote. “This can’t be real there no way you used the die lit album cover,” another commented. Many fans also flooded the comments with the lyrics to some of the songs off the album, while others just spammed the post with clown emojis for obvious reasons.

Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BET

The user behind the account eventually caught on to their critical error, although they don’t quite seem to understand the extent of their mistake. “Sorry all, I didn’t realise that picture of a riot was also used as an album cover, however I won’t be taking it down,” the account posted to its story, along with three American flags. Someone please tell them that the photo wasn’t taken at a riot at all, and even if it was, it certainly wasn’t in recent weeks.