Former “Power” actor Rotimi has a message to spread. The popular crooner has come forward with his new, unexpected “Unity” music video aimed at addressing the trend of police brutality happening across the United States and Black Lives Matter movement.
Rotimi Addresses Breonna Taylor Injustice
The rap crooner delivered the must-see visual to the masses following more drama surrounding the Breonna Taylor grand jury decision. He also makes direct references to other victims of police brutality including Black man George Floyd.
The “Unity” music video promotes social change through use of striking visuals that spotlight the world coming together for recent racial justice movements. Opening with Rotimi dressed in an all-white ensemble, his surroundings set as a backdrop for the powerful images of recent events. His opening phrase “Let’s talk about unity“ is repeated as clips of police brutality, mass protests, devastating wars, and desolation flash before the viewers eyes. As Rotimi sings “Whole world / at a standstill, we’re fighting for justice, no need for division, no, we all got a purpose,” a montage of recent Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ protests, coronavirus footage, and images of Martin Luther King Jr. transition from scene to scene showcasing the state of our world, both past and present.
Breonna Taylor’s Grand Jury Audio Emerges
According to reports, there’s conflicting testimony over the seconds before police fatally shot Taylor in her own apartment in March. Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker – in the recordings – is heard saying they had no idea who was at the door and said the cops didn’t announce themselves before breaking into the apartment.
The officers involved in the raid, though, insisted in interviews with investigators that they had loudly identified themselves as the police before they burst through the door. It was only after one officer was shot by Mr. Walker, they said, that they opened fire at the couple, killing Ms. Taylor. The dueling accounts of a chaotic and tragic night are captured in 15 hours of recordings from the grand jury’s examination of the fatal raid, which was part of a drug investigation targeting a man who was arrested elsewhere. For the first time, some of those directly involved in the police shooting — including neighbors, officers and Mr. Walker — are heard describing the fateful night. (MSN)
Grand Jury Tapes
In September 2020, Attorney General Daniel Cameron addressed being pressured to release the recordings publicly.
Cameron added that he was concerned that the release planned for Wednesday could hamper the ongoing federal investigation and lead to a “poisoning of the jury pool.” “The grand jury is meant to be a secretive body,” Cameron said in a statement released Monday night. “It’s apparent that the public interest in this case isn’t going to allow that to happen.” The move follows the filing of a motion in Louisville, Kentucky, by a grand jury member to have the sealed transcripts and records released “so that the truth may prevail.” (NBC News)
The Family Makes Demands
After the grand jury’s decision, Taylor’s family demanded grand jury details be made public. The family’s statement came during a news conference in Jefferson Square Park.
Speaker after speaker pilloried that outcome, repeatedly criticizing Cameron, the police force and the country’s justice system, which Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, described as fundamentally not set up to protect people of color in America. “It’s clear that that is the way they will always see us,” Palmer said in a statement that was read aloud at the news conference by her sister, Bianca Austin. “I was reassured Wednesday of why I had no faith in the legal system, in the police, in the law … The system as a whole has failed her.” (Herald-Dispatch)
