Michael Kiwanuka voices support for Black Lives Matter: “I will do more to lift up my people”

"We are so beautiful and have such a wonderful history of strength, overcoming, talent, innovation, creativity, invention and love."

Michael Kiwanuka has shared his support for Black Lives Matter in an impassioned message on social media.

It comes after the death of George Floyd in police custody last week, which sparked demonstrations across the globe.

“The way so much of the world has been designed has often caused me and so many other black people psychological damage,” Kiwanuka wrote.

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“We so often hear that we are lesser than because we are black. We are a label, a token, a statistic, and we can be dehumanised. I’ve spoken about it in my music but I wanted to declare in words that I’m proud to be black.

“We are so beautiful and have such a wonderful history of strength, overcoming, talent, innovation, creativity, invention and love.”

He continued: “But recent events have brought up feelings I realised I had to bury in order to continue to walk through this life. Music has given me an outlet, however not everyone is as fortunate as me so I will do more to lift up my people.

“I’ve been singing, but I’ll talk, act and whatever else to prevent the psychological and physical damage, in many cases death which comes from being black in the west. Black Lives Matter and always have done and always will.”

Kiwanuka’s support for Black Lives Matter comes after he explored issues relating to his own identity on his third, self-titled album which was released in 2019.

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“My name, for me, represents quite a lot about my background, my history,” he previously said of the album title.

It celebrates my uniqueness and says I’m OK with being a bit different, being myself. Kiwanuka is not a common name on the UK, it’s a Ugandan name, and [the album title] is about being first-generation African.”

Yesterday, thousands of people in the UK showed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by attending a massive protest in London’s Hyde Park.

The event also saw John Boyega receiving widespread praise for addressing the huge crowd.

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