John Boyega Writes Message of Thanks After His Black Lives Matter Speech Led to Outpour of Support

Earlier this week, Star Wars sequel star John Boyega made headlines after speaking at a Black Lives Matter protest in London. During the speech, the actor said, "Look I don't know if I'm going to have a career after this but, f**k that." This caused a huge outpour of support from directors, including his former Star Wars directors Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams. Others spoke out, saying they'd like to work with the actor, too, including Us and Get Out's Jordan Peele as well as Birds of Prey's Cathy Yan. Boyega also received tons of love from fans, who were so pleased with the actor's actions, they made his movie Attack the Block trend on Twitter. Now, Boyega has taken to Instagram to thank everyone for their support and expand on his important message.

"I want to thank you all for the love and support you have shared over the last few days, although nothing I have done is for praise, or is truly even enough, in the grand scheme of things," Boyega began. "This is an intense time for our community, and the most important thing is for us to maintain momentum and not lose sight of how critical it is to pursue long term solutions and commitments, for the sake of our generation, and the next. Our individual pursuits of success and belonging remain, but now more than ever, it's important to use this movement as fuel to inspire new ways of thinking, building, and growing, together. I believe any great movement starts with a renewal of the mind. I know you're all thinking, what's next? Where do we go from here? Because I'm thinking the same sh*t! Conversations about black businesses, ownership and support are happening, and I will continue to have these conversations with the full intention of birthing ideas that are sustainable and tangible. Let's increase our knowledge!"

He added, "I'm excited to see an awakening happening in all of us! I'll continue to use my platform to fight against the injustices and inequalities in our community, no matter what. Nonetheless, one man can't do it alone - I need you, and we need each other! We need everyone, across industry's, soci-economic backgrounds, countries, to unite with a shared goal of REAL change. Before the pandemic hit, I visited a few schools in Southwark, to share my journey and to truly understand the minds and needs of our next generation. It was eye opening and inspiring to say the least, and I look forward to continuing this work, and contributing more, once it is safe to do so. I urge the black men of our community, my peers, to do the same. Connecting with our kids and motivating them towards a future that is stronger and brighter, is urgent, and necessary. In the meantime, let's work on clearing the runway for them, so they can take off, and fly. Love everyone, and stay safe x." You can see the post below:

View this post on Instagram

I want to thank you all for the love and support you have shared over the last few days, although nothing I have done is for praise, or is truly even enough, in the grand scheme of things. This is an intense time for our community, and the most important thing is for us to maintain momentum and not lose sight of how critical it is to pursue long term solutions and commitments, for the sake of our generation, and the next. Our individual pursuits of success and belonging remain, but now more than ever, it’s important to use this movement as fuel to inspire new ways of thinking, building, and growing, together. I believe any great movement starts with a renewal of the mind. I know you’re all thinking, what’s next? Where do we go from here? Because I’m thinking the same shit! Conversations about black businesses, ownership and support are happening, and I will continue to have these conversations with the full intention of birthing ideas that are sustainable and tangible. Let’s increase our knowledge! I’m excited to see an awakening happening in all of us! I’ll continue to use my platform to fight against the injustices and inequalities in our community, no matter what. Nonetheless, one man can’t do it alone - I need you, and we need each other! We need everyone, across industry’s, soci-economic backgrounds, countries, to unite with a shared goal of REAL change. Before the pandemic hit, I visited a few schools in Southwark, to share my journey and to truly understand the minds and needs of our next generation. It was eye opening and inspiring to say the least, and I look forward to continuing this work, and contributing more, once it is safe to do so. I urge the black men of our community, my peers, to do the same. Connecting with our kids and motivating them towards a future that is stronger and brighter, is urgent, and necessary. In the meantime, let’s work on clearing the runway for them, so they can take off, and fly. Love everyone, and stay safe x

A post shared by John Boyega (@johnboyega) on Jun 7, 2020 at 3:17am PDT

You can read Boyega's original speech here.