What Drake has to say about recent police violence against black people in the US

In what has become a grim pattern in America, yet another video has emerged of a black man shot and killed by the police on Tuesday.

Last night protests reached a crescendo as hundreds of people in Louisiana demanded justice for 37-year-old Alton Sterling, who was pinned down and then shot by police.

Tragically, while the protests were going on, in Minnesota, another black man - 32-year-old Philando Castile - was shot by police after being pulled over. His infant daughter was in the back seat.

The 2013 acquittal of a white man in the murder of black teenager Trayvon Martin and death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who had been holding a toy gun when he was shot and killed by police in 2014, are just two examples in a sea of law enforcement brutality cases which helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement.

Last year police killed at least 102 unarmed black people – almost two people a week.

Rapper Drake, who is half African American and half Jewish Canadian, took to Instagram to share his thoughts on learning of Sterling's death.

I am grateful to be able to call America my second home. Last night when I saw the video of Alton Sterling being killed it left me feeling disheartened, emotional and truly scared. I woke up this morning with a strong need to say something.

He expresses his fears for his family and friends in a clear, painful way, highlighting the systemic tension between law enforcement and the African American community in the US:

It’s impossible to ignore the relationship between black and brown communities and law enforcement remains as strained as it was decades ago.

No one begins their life as a hashtag. Yet the trend of being reduced to one continues.

This is real and I’m concerned. Concerned for the safety of my family, my friends, and any human being that could fall victim to this pattern. I do not know the answer. But I believe things can change for the better. Open and honest dialogue is the first step.

Read it in full below:

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