"Sitting in your car before your bachelor party." "Driving with a broken brake light." "Walking up the stairwell of your apartment building." "Laughing."
These are just four among a long list of reasons black Americans have been killed in this country, according to a new video featuring Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Adam Levine, Bono and more of the country's most prominent stars. The clip was made in collaboration with Keys' We Are Here Movement with original reporting from Mic's Jamilah King.
After each celebrity appears on screen to cite a particular example, the face of the victim in the case is shown, including Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Minnesota on July 6 after reaching for his wallet, and Eric Garner, who was choked to death in New York after being suspected of selling cigarettes on the street.
As a conclusion to the black and white clip featuring some of Hollywood's most recognizable faces, Keys appears to make one final request to viewers.
"Go to weareheremovement.com to tell President Obama and congress that the time for change is now," she says while looking straight into the camera. "We demand radical transformation to heal the long history of systemic racism so that all Americans have the equal right to live and to pursue happiness."
As racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement remain pressing topics of American dialogue, celebrities have continued to make declarations of support and requests for judicial change.
"We are sick and tired of the killings of young men and women in our communities," Beyonce penned in a letter to the public shared on her website. "It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they 'stop killing.' We don't need sympathy. We need everyone to respect our lives. We're going to stand up as a community and fight against anyone who believes that murder or any violet action by those who are sworn to protect us should consistently go unpunished."
"The war on people of color and all minorities needs to be over," she continued. "Fear is not an excuse. Hate will not win. We all have the power to channel our anger and frustration into action. We must use our voices to contact the politicians and legislators in our districts and demand social and judicial changes. While we pray for the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, we will also pray for an end to this plague of injustice in our communities."
At the most recent 2016 ESPY Awards, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade opened the annual ceremony with a powerful personal statement.
"The racial profiling has to stop. The shooting to kill mentality has to stop. Not seeing the value of black and brown bodies has to stop," Wade begged before the crowd. "But also, the retaliation has to stop. The endless gun violence in places like Chicago, Dallas, not to mention Orlando—it has to stop. Enough. Enough is enough."
James topped off the opener with a final thought. "Let's use this moment…to educate ourselves, explore these issues, speak up, use our influence and renounce all violence. And most importantly, go back to our communities and invest our time, our resources, help rebuild them, help strengthen them, help change them. We all have to do better."