Kim Kardashian is speaking out about Black Lives Matter and police brutality following the deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star, 36, took to her blog on Friday, July 8, to express her frustration in a post that was likely written prior to the tragedy in Dallas, where five police officers were killed and seven injured, plus two civilians, during a peaceful protest.
“This week we watched Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two innocent black men, get senselessly murdered by police officers,” she wrote in the essay titled #BLACKLIVESMATTER. “Like a lot of you guys, I watched the videos, and was appalled and completely heartbroken. I was left speechless, angry and numb.”
She explained that her passion for the cause is inspired by her daughter, North, 3, and son Saint, 7 months, whom she shares with husband Kanye West. “I want my children to grow up knowing that their lives matter,” she wrote. “I do not ever want to have to teach my son to be scared of the police, or tell him that he has to watch his back because the people we are told to trust — the people who ‘protect and serve’ — may not be protecting and serving him because of the color of his skin.”
Kardashian urged Black Lives Matter activists to demonstrate their feelings in a peaceful and nonviolent manner. “The last thing we need is to fuel anger with more hate or violence, especially toward the many incredible police officers who risk their lives every single day to protect our families and communities,” she continued. “We must peacefully use the power of our voices and the strength of our numbers to demand changes in the judicial system so that brutality doesn’t ever go unpunished.
“It is our responsibility as Americans and as parents to create a safe future for our children,” the mom of two penned. “We must do something NOW. We must speak up until we are heard and real, effective changes are made.”
She concluded the post by listing off the names of black people killed by police officers over the past couple of years: “Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Sean Bell … and unfortunately so many more.”
Finally, the reality star let her fans know how they can help — by contacting their local legislator and voicing the need for change or by donating to Sterling’s and Castile’s families.
“Hashtags are not enough. This must end now,” Kardashian wrote.
As Us Weekly previously reported, Sterling, 37, was selling homemade CDs and DVDs outside a convenience store when police responded to a 911 call of a man threatening people with a gun at the location. In video footage, Sterling did not appear to be endangering the officers, but he was shot multiple times in the chest and back, and died.
Castile, 32, was shot and killed after he and his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, were pulled over for a traffic stop. As he was reaching for his license and registration, the officer thought he was getting out a pistol, which he was licensed to carry, and shot him multiple times. Reynolds live-streamed the graphic aftermath of the incident on Facebook.
