Meghan speaks to racial divisions
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Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has shared her sadness about racial divisions in the United States, telling students at her former high school that she felt moved to speak out because the life of George Floyd mattered.
Meghan told graduates at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles that she wrestled with the question of what to tell them given the days of protests after the May 25 death of Floyd.
She said her nervousness arose because her words would be “picked apart,” but she decided to speak anyway.
“I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing, because George Floyd’s life mattered,” she said in the virtual address Wednesday.
The former Meghan Markle, who is biracial, said the unrest reminded her of the riots that took place in her hometown of Los Angeles after police officers were acquitted in the videotaped beating of Rodney King in 1992.
The duchess’s video offered encouragement to the graduates, urging them to consider the moments of light and humanity that emerged from the actions of peaceful protesters. Meghan said she wished the graduates were starting their young lives in a better world.
“I know sometimes people say, ‘How many times do we need to rebuild?’ ” she said. “Well, you know what? We are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we.”
CMT special focuses on everyday heroes: Country stars highlighted the heroic work of citizens and communities around the country who were coming together to help each other in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic during the “CMT Celebrates Our Heroes” TV special.
The Wednesday show, which aired in place of the CMT Music Awards, appeared to contain prerecorded performances and dedications from artists such as Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs and Darius Rucker, and focused on good news stories of health care workers, educators and first responders.
Blake Shelton spoke about the pandemic especially hurting lower-income people who are food insecure. Underwood noted how educators have come up with creative solutions to keep kids learning even as classes went online. Combs sang his virus-inspired song called “Six Feet Apart” after acknowledging that he misses being able to sing for people.
Brian Cox takes on other roles: HBO drama sensation “Succession” may be temporarily shut down, but star Brian Cox is still finding projects to keep him busy. Cox recently filmed “Little Room,” a whodunit for the Zoom age available at www.pin pointpresents.com.
The actor said it took him four days to work out how to send his scenes to the filmmakers.
“My baptism of fire was downloading the takes that I had to then send, and it was taking forever,” Cox said from his New York home. “I don’t know, it’s just a bit of a nightmare.”
June 5 birthdays: Actor Bill Hayes is 95. Guitarist Fred Stone is 73. Financial expert Suze Orman is 69. Saxophonist Kenny G is 64. Actor Jeff Garlin is 58. Singer Brian McKnight is
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49. Bassist Pete Wentz is 41. Actress Amanda Crew is
34. Musician DJ Mustard is 30. Actor Hank Greenspan is 10.