Macklemore paid homage to Trayvon Martin during his acceptance speech at the American Music Awards on Sunday night.
Upon accepting the award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album, the “Can’t Hold Us” rapper took advantage of his platform and mentioned Martin.
He was accepting the award via satellite from Miami where he and Ryan Lewis performed “Can’t Hold Us,” and he said “Now that I’m sitting here in front of millions of people, I would like to address something extremely important to me.”
He then quoted Martin Luther King, saying, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Rumor Fix reports.
He added that since they were in Florida, where Martin was killed by George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of the charges, he wanted “to acknowledge Trayvon Martin and the hundreds and hundreds of kids each year that are dying due to racial profiling and the violence that follows it,” EW reports.
He noted, “This is really happening. These are our friends, our neighbors, our peers, and our fans, and it’s time that we look out for the youth and fight against racism and the laws that protect it.”
image: ABC