Former Glee star Amber Riley called attention to the Black Lives Matter movement with a performance of Beyonce's Freedom during a Los Angeles protest on Wednesday (03Jun20).
The actress and singer belted out a powerful rendition in an effort to highlight racial inequality and police brutality.
"What an honor. #blacklivesmatter #defundthepolice #prosecutekillercops," Amber captioned a video of her performance on Instagram. "You have free agency to use every amazing gift you have to fight for truth and justice."
The 34 year old also took to Twitter to encourage her followers to use their own voices to inspire social justice.
"We all have voices. I don't care how many followers you have," she wrote. "All of our voices and how we utilize our platforms is important. If it's 10 followers, radicalize them, make them believers in themselves, that they can change the world and themselves for the better!"
In another post she added, "Don't rely on celebrities... Do YOUR part."
The bold statement comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was killed by police in Minnesota on 25 May (20).
Riley's performance came amid controversy surrounding her Glee co-star Lea Michele's treatment of African-American guest star Samantha Ware. After Lea tweeted her support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Ware hit back by accusing the screen star of making her life a "living hell" when she bullied her on set, and alleged Lea even threatened to "s**t in her wig".
Following Samantha's tweet, two other Glee castmates came forward to validate her story, while Amber and Melissa Benoist both weighed in by liking tweets about the scandal. Michele has since apologised for her bad behaviour.
