Anthony Mackie has made headlines this weekend after giving a moving interview about police brutality on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
The Marvel star, who portrays Falcon (and now Captain America) in the MCU, openly spoke about his personal experience with racial injustice in the United States. In the interview, he explained that he had to have a lengthy conversation with his sons about George Floyd’s death and the concept of police brutality. They’re 11 and seven years old.
“You know, it’s interesting. Being a father of sons,” he said.
“You have to open your kids’ eyes to the world they live in. And you know, when I was growing up, like most boys, you want to be a fireman or a police officer. You want to be a first responder in some way.
“And then it comes, the harsh reality of the day that you have to tell your kids that, you know… You have to open their eyes to what the world is around them. To how police view them as young Black men.”
Mackie continued, speaking about how his boys understood the tragic realities that Black people face but stressed that they couldn’t comprehend “the lack of humanity in a person to do that to another person”….“when literally their [police’s] code of honour is to protect and serve”.
The actor went on to talk about how a recent opportunity to visit the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee (the site where Martin Luther King was killed) changed his life. Growing emotional, Mackie said:
“I was able to stand out on the balcony where Martin Luther King was assassinated. And it blew my mind to think that this man worked so hard and gave his life, and here we are 50 years later, 55 years later, dealing with the exact same thing. And that’s what hurts.”
As the interviewed continued, Anthony Mackie shared that his experience on that balcony drove him and close friends of his to say, “we have to do something”. So starting his decision to campaign to get one million men to register to vote, and make a political change, in the United States.
There were parts to this raw and touching interview that echoed Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special 8:46 in which he speaks to audiences about the fact that the impacts of slavery and the realities of racial injustice were “not a long time ago. It’s today”.
Chappelle’s monologue touched on the power of the current Black Lives Matter protests and how long this incredible injustice has carried on. Speaking to activists and protests, he said:
“You kids are excellent drivers and I’m comfortable in the backseat of the car. So, carry on, young ones.”
The videos from Anthony Mackie and Dave Chappelle are moving examples of honest emotion, and personal accounts of the nightmare (to quote Chappelle) Black people are living through. Give them both a watch. And prepare to be deeply moved.
If you’d like to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement, consider donating to BLM, the NAACP, The Loveland Foundation, Bridging The Gap Foundation For Indigenous Health and Education, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance. Blak Business is also a great resource for supporting Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander businesses, voices and stories in Australia.
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