This year more than ever, Beyonce has embraced her role as a celebrity activist, speaking out directly about injustice against minorities and also using her music as a means of protest. In the wake of this week's police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Beyonce shared a powerful call to action via a statement posted to her website. She vowed to take a stand against a system in which police can kill black men and women and go unpunished, and she encouraged others to "contact the politicians and legislators in our districts and demand social and judicial changes." Later that same night, a sniper killed five police officers during a peaceful protest in response to the deaths of Sterling and Castile. Last night, Beyonce posted an Instagram video tribute to each of the officers who were slain in Dallas, and she once again offered a message of nonviolence to her followers, telling them, "No violence will create peace. Every human life is valuable."
The black and white Instagram video clip she shared shows the Texas flag waving while the names of each of the officers killed during the Dallas protest are displayed on the screen. "Rest in peace to the officers whose lives were senselessly taken," Beyonce wrote in the caption, going on to extend her prayers to the seven other officers who were injured during the shooting. She ended her post by writing, "To effect change we must show love in the face of hate and peace in the face of violence."
R.I.P. to Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens, and Michael Smith.