Meghan Markle Says George Floyd’s Life ‘Mattered’

Meghan Markle is yet another famous face that has broken her silence to respond about George Floyd’s death. 

During a virtual commencement speech for her former high school, Immaculate Heart,  the Duchess of Sussex talked with the class of 2020 to discuss her thoughts on the history of racial tensions in America on Wednesday night (June 3). 

“What is happening in our country and in our state and in our hometown of LA… I wasn’t sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing,” she said. “I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing because George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered… and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know.”

Markle also recounted an event that she will always remember. 

“I was 11 or 12 years old and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by a senseless act of racism,” she said. “I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings… I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don’t go away.”

As an alumna of the all-girls school, she made it clear to the Immaculate Heart class of 2020, the former royal reminded them that Black Lives Matter. She encouraged the teens to use their voice and vote. 

“You’re going to have empathy for those who don’t see the world through the same lens that you do. You’re ready. We need you and you’re prepared.”

Watch Meghan Markle’’s full speech below: