Janelle Monáe leads Black Lives Matter protest in Philadelphia: Crowd chants

“You’re going to say his name and say her name”, said Monae to those ready to march alongside her. “Can I get a clap?” Now, in response to both the rising death toll and the disparate coverage of black women killed by police compared to black men, activists chant, “Say her name”.

This statement was linked to the #SayHerName hashtag, which, though preexisting, circulated widely after the death of Sandra Bland in prison (following a minor traffic violation); and at the march in Philadelphia, protesters chanted the names of the various black lives that’d been ended by the “justice” system.

Listen to “Hell You Talmbout” below.

“

This song is a vessel”, {

718032902}. “It carries the unbearable anguish of millions“, she writes. While artists continue to express their thoughts about police brutality through the press or on social media, Janelle Monae and her Wondaland crew share their thoughts in song instead. Sound is our weapon. “They say a question lives forever, until it gets the answer it deserves”, Monáe continued. “Can we speak their names, as long as we have breath in our bodies?”

The singer, along with artists Deep Cotton, Jidenna, St. Beauty and Roman GianArthur who are signed to her label Wondaland Records, released a new song protesting police brutality in the country.

Jidenna also spoke at the rally and played a gig with Monae in the city later that evening.