Tender or out of place? BGT dance tribute to George Floyd
Tinderbox tension as Black Panther-style militia face off with armed Trump supporters
BriTain’s Got Talent viewers were left stunned by dance group Diversity after they performed a routine which re- enacted the death of George Floyd.
The performers, who won the show in 2009, were both hailed and criticised by fans on saturday night for their social justiceinspired routine.
They chose to recreate the moment in which Mr Floyd, the africanamerican man, died after a police officer put his knee on his neck for almost nine minutes.
The troupe then took the knee and chanted ‘Black Lives Matter’ in unison to round off the performance.
Mr Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May, has sparked months of Black Lives Matter protests across the globe and led to stand-offs between pro- and anti-BLM protesters.
some demonstrations have even sparked violence, with protesters being killed and many small businesses being destroyed.
The Diversity dancers were decked out in all-black riot
‘Making our voices heard’
gear and they even performed using police riot shields.
Lead dancer ashley Banjo, who became a father to son Micah in March, began the routine by telling an imaginary child the story of 2020.
The narration went: ‘While we all were hidden, under orders of the prime Minister, people noticed something more sinister. another disease, deep-rooted in our system – fear, hate and ignorance but racism was the symptom.’
at the end of the performance, they received a standing ovation from the judges. However, some viewers of the iTV show did not appreciate the alleged politicisation of their saturday night television. paul Crichton wrote on Twitter that Diversity ‘shouldn’t use a talent show to make a political statement’. and Joanne o’Malley said she was ‘sick to death of BLM being rammed down our throats’.
others were simply opposed to the BLM movement altogether and hit out at Diversity for endorsing it. Mr Banjo, who was standing in as a guest judge for an injured simon
Cowell, said after the performance that the group wanted to make use of the platform they had been given.
He said: ‘This performance is extremely special to me and the rest of Diversity.
‘We wanted to use the platform we’ve been given to make our voices heard, express how the events of this year have made us feel and think about how we might look back on them in the future.’
This is the latest in a series of high- profile shows of support in the UK for the BLM movement. Last saturday, England players took the knee once again before their game against iceland – a gesture done in every premier League game since lockdown.
Bristling with an array of fearsome assault weapons, both black and white militia clashed as tensions over police violence reached fever pitch in the Us.
Masked members of Black Panther-style group nFAC – not F****** Around Coalition – took to the streets of louisville, Kentucky in a show of force.
However, they were met by dozens of camouflage-clad, pro-trump counterprotesters who vowed to ‘protect’ the city. in the pressure- cooker atmosphere, the two groups clashed in the city centre where they chanted at each other, but no shots were fired and they were eventually separated.
Black protesters sought to use the Kentucky Derby horse race, which was taking place in louisville on saturday, to draw attention to the death of Breonna taylor – a 26-year-old black woman who was shot by police in her own home in the city in March.
Protesters were said to have chanted ‘Breonna taylor’ while white counterprotesters responded with ‘UsA’.
A white militia member who only gave his first name as Mike said he and others from a group called sons of liberty came to louisville to ‘protect’ the city from the nFAC.
Others wore t- shirts which read:
No quarter: Trump supporters ‘god, guns and trump’. Meanwhile, a larger Black lives Matter protest also took place in the city.
several hundred people marched to Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby took place. sadiqa reynolds, of anti-racism group louisville Urban league, said: ‘We don’t want anyone celebrating when we’re in pain.’
Protests continued in Portland, Oregon for the 100th night. And in rochester, new York, there were demonstrations over the killing of a black man by police, who covered his head in a hood. recently revealed footage from March showed how a naked Daniel Prude, 41, who was in the midst of a mental health episode, died after police held his face down in the road for three minutes.
Jacob Blake, who has also become the focus of protests after Wisconsin police shot him seven times in the back, spoke from hospital yesterday urging people to stay calm and get on with their lives.
in a video, Mr Blake – who is paralysed from the waist down – said: ‘Your life, and not only just your life, your legs, something you need to move around and forward in life, can be taken from you like this. it hurts to breathe,
‘No celebrations when we’re in pain’
it hurts to sleep, it hurts to move from side to side, it hurts to eat. Please, i’m telling you, change your lives. stick together, make some money, make everything easier for our people out there, man, because there’s so much time that’s been wasted.’
the nFAC also clashed with far-right militia the Kentucky three Percenters in louisville in July while calling for justice for Breonna taylor.
there was a police investigation, but no charges, after three people were injured by gunfire. nFAC leader John ‘grandmaster Jay’ Johnson said it was an accident as a member passed out in the heat and dropped his gun.