The words of social activist Harry Belafonte take center stage in a new PSA centered on the police brutality crisis in America, featuring some very familiar faces. Creed star Michael B. Jordan, Danny Glover, The Wire's Michael K. Williams, CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill, and political activist Van Jones all appear in the new short film that opens with unsettling audio excerpts from recent police killings. The spot was put together by the Belfonte-founded organization Sankofa.
In an interview with the New York Times in September, Belafonte discussed his seven-decade career as an actor, singer-songwriter, and civil rights leader while reflecting on the current state of the nation. "When Trayvon Martin was shot and our community went into a response to that, there was no question in my mind that America was being awakened to its reality," Belafonte said.
As a particularly vital Election Day draws closer, Belafonte noted the importance of making sure everyone is registered. "The vote is perhaps the single most important weapon in our arsenal," Belafonte told the Times. As the first two presidential debates have shown, both candidates have very different ideas on how to handle police reform.
Belafonte's words from a recent MSNBC appearance, echoing the urgency of the moment outlined above, are excepted in the new PSA. "You cannot just go about, if it's once or twice you can say it's an accident or a coincidence, but when you have as large a population of murdered young men in the streets of America and they're all black or of African American descent, I think someone is sending us a message," Belafonte said. "We should respond to that message."
Watch the full PSA, which Timereports was directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, in the video above.
