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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| NBC silences Janelle Monáe during Black Lives Matter speech | NBC silences Janelle Monáe during Black Lives Matter speech |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Singer Janelle Monáe was in effect silenced during an appearance on NBC’s Today show on Friday morning, shortly after saying in a speech in support of the Black Lives Matter movement: “We will not be silenced.” | |
| Related: 'I dream about it every night': what happens to Americans who film police violence? | Related: 'I dream about it every night': what happens to Americans who film police violence? |
| Performing with a number of labelmates, Monáe sang three songs outside NBC headquarters in Manhattan: Tightrope, Yoga and Hell You Talmbout. | |
| Hell You Talmbout is a protest song in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged last year after a number of deaths of unarmed African American men and women either at the hands of police officers or while in police custody. | Hell You Talmbout is a protest song in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged last year after a number of deaths of unarmed African American men and women either at the hands of police officers or while in police custody. |
| The song features chants of the names of many of those who have died in such fashion, including Eric Garner, Walter Scott, John Crawford, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland and Michael Brown, with the repeated request to “Say his name” or “Say her name”. | |
| The song also mentions Trayvon Martin, who was shot dead by George Zimmerman in 2012, and Emmett Till, a 14-year-old whose brutal murder by white racists in Mississippi in 1955 inspired a protest song by Bob Dylan. | |
| On the Today show, Monáe – who last week led a march in support of Black Lives Matter in Philadelphia – closed the song with a short speech. | On the Today show, Monáe – who last week led a march in support of Black Lives Matter in Philadelphia – closed the song with a short speech. |
| “Yes, Lord,” she said. “God bless America. God bless all who’ve lost lives to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know that we stand tall today. We will not be silenced.” | |
| A Today show anchor then began speaking over her, saying: “We’ll have much more from Janelle Monáe … coming up.” | A Today show anchor then began speaking over her, saying: “We’ll have much more from Janelle Monáe … coming up.” |
| The show’s website subsequently featured videos of the performances of Tightrope and Yoga, but not Hell You Talmbout. | The show’s website subsequently featured videos of the performances of Tightrope and Yoga, but not Hell You Talmbout. |
| Related: Black Lives Matter has showed us: the oppression of black people is borderless | Steven W Thrasher | Related: Black Lives Matter has showed us: the oppression of black people is borderless | Steven W Thrasher |
| NBC did not immediately comment on the matter. | NBC did not immediately comment on the matter. |
| Text accompanying the videos on the show website, however, read: “Not everyone ‘gets’ Monáe yet, which is understandable: She’s no cookie-cutter artist and as she admits, she’s constantly changing. ‘I love evolving,’ she told Today between performances. ‘I’m not just one thing and I will never be one thing to any one person. It’s all about being complete and whole. Partying and pondering.’ | |
| “We like that!” | “We like that!” |