Tyler Perry is known for his Madea franchise and for numerous works aimed at Black Americans through his Tyler Perry productions. The billionaire movie producer has produced, acted, and directed numerous shows, movies, and stage plays, with the Black experience at the center of it.
So, it was only fitting that the filmmaker criticized President Donald Trump’s recent policies at the BET Awards. Perry went on to criticize the administration for the erasure of Black history in schools and education, the renaming of government buildings that were named after prominent Black public figures, and encouraged his peers to continue to make their voices heard.
Tyler Perry makes a rousing speech attacking President Donald Trump’s administration
The BET Awards had their ceremony earlier this week, and many artists took the stage to talk about the current political situation in America. With the protests against ICE in LA taking a violent turn and many criticizing President Donald Trump’s policies since he took office, the political tensions in the nation seem to be at a high.
Among others, filmmaker, studio head, and actor Tyler Perry took the stage at the award show and criticized Trump’s policies that he claimed erased Black history. Possibly referring to the attack on critical race theory in schools by issuing executive orders, Perry spoke about history books and names being erased from the present.
Perry made a rousing speech on the stage and expressed his anger at the administration’s practices. He said (via Huff Post),
I want you to pay attention to— don’t miss this. They are removing our books from libraries. They are removing our stories and our history. They are removing our names from government buildings as if someone wants to erase our footprints…Because what we need to understand is that if our children don’t know our history, they won’t know our power.
Perry continued to encourage Black artists and entrepreneurs to keep up with their work and not be discouraged by the obstacles presented by the administration.
Tyler Perry’s BET Awards speech encouraged the Black community to keep fighting against the obstacles
Tyler Perry’s BET Awards speech was a rousing call to action for Black artists and the community to fight back against what he called the erasure of Black history. The Donald Trump administration has taken several steps to eliminate the teaching of critical race theory in schools and has attacked DEI policies in his present term (via AP News). Another artist, who raised her voice against the administration in the context of the LA protests, was Doechii.
Nevertheless, the billionaire entrepreneur and filmmaker encouraged the community to raise their voices and continue to fight back against these erasures. He said,
The truth of the matter [is], it’s impossible to erase our footprints, because we left them on water. What I mean by that is, we were snatched from our homeland, bought across the ocean, and left footprints all the way to America…So, this is not the time to be silent. This is not the time to give up. This is the time to dig in and keep leaving footprints everywhere you go.
Many fans were also quick to notice that the camera cut to Snoop Dogg during Tyler Perry’s speech, with many implying that it was a criticism directed at The Next Episode rapper for performing a the Crypto Ball, which celebrated Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Tyler Perry has been one of the many celebrities and artists who took the stage to spread awareness about some of President Trump’s more unpopular policies and the political tension in the country right now. His speech seemed to be a call to action for his community to raise their voices more.
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