Famous singer Stevie Wonder criticized the black community for its high rates of crime while at a peace conference over the weekend.
Wonder pointed out that black people shouldn’t say “black lives matter” when the community is struggling with black-on-black crime, reports Billboard.
“It is in your hands to stop all the killing and all the shooting wherever it might be. Because you cannot say black lives matter and then kill yourselves,” Wonder told those gathered at the North Minneapolis Peace Conference.
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Wonder’s comments came after a jury of 12 cleared Officer Jeronimo Yanez in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, a black gun owner. (RELATED: Cop Found Not Guilty In Death Of Philando Castile)
“Because you know we’ve mattered long before it was said, but the way we show that we matter, the way that we show all the various people of color matter is by loving each other and doing something about it. Not just talking about it, not just waiting to see the media and press come when there’s a horrible thing,” Wonder continued.
Wonder also pointed out that the black community must start loving themselves and valuing each others’ lives.
“The first thing you must do is stop believing the fallacy of you not being important,” Wonder said. “Because it is completely unacceptable for one to hate themselves so much that anyone that looks like you, you want to kill.”
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