Lauren London.Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET
Lauren Londonis honoring Darnella Frazier, the teen who filmed the death ofGeorge Floyd.
During the 2021 BET Awards on Sunday, the 36-year-old actress praised the young woman for her “transformative heroics,” presenting Frazier with the ceremony’s shine a light award.
“Tonight, we’d like to shine a light on the brave and transformative heroics of Darnella Frazier,” London began her speech. “This young woman who captured a moment in history that reflects our brutal past helping to forge a way forward with her cell phone in hand, she recorded 9 minutes and 29 seconds of social injustice, highlighting the murder of George Floyd.”
TheWithout Remorseactress noted that although Frazier, 18, was unable to attend the awards ceremony, she and BET still wanted to acknowledge and thank her for her “contributions to social justice.”
“Sometimes in life, it just takes one person to prove that we play a large part in getting the accountability we deserve. She didn’t set out to change the world, she set out to do what was right,” London continued.
Frazier’s BET Award comes a few weeks after she received a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board — a rarity for someone who is not a professional journalist. She was honored “for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice.”
“It wasn’t right,” she told the jury at the time of her testimony. “He was suffering. He was in pain.”
“I’ve stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life,” Frazier said. “But it’s not what I should have done; it’s what [Chauvin] should have done.”
“George Floyd we did it!! justice has been served,” shewrote on social media. “This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof. But to know GUILTY ON ALL 3 CHARGES !!! THANK YOU GOD THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU”
The 2021 BET Awards aired live on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on BET.
source: people.com
