On Tuesday, Jay-Z and ROC Nation honored George Floyd by taking out full-page ads in newspapers all around the county. 

The majority of the page was used to quote from a speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama in 1965. 

“Only way we can really achieve freedom is to somehow hunker the fear of death,” the quote begins. 

“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true,” it continues. “So we’re going to stand up amid horses. We’re going to stand up right here, amid the billy-clubs. We’re going to stand up right here amid police dogs, if they have them. We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!”

“We’re going to stand amid anything they can muster up, letting the world know that we are determined to be free,” the quote concludes. 

The except, which was printed in newspapers like the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Enquirer, was signed by the 50-year-old rapper, as well as, Angela Rye, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, attorney Ben Crump, Van Jones’ Reform Alliance, and the Women’s Global Initiative, among others. 

By Danielle Long
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