Miguel honored George Floyd, an unarmed black man from Minnesota who was killed Monday (May 25) at the hands of police officers, during his virtual performance of “Candles in the Sun” last night (May 28).
Performing as part of the #CokeStudioSessions hosted on BeApp, a new livestream concert platform, Miguel laid face down on the ground with his hands behind his back to emulate Floyd’s position when ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee down on his neck. He crooned the forlorn ballad from his 2012 album Kaleidoscope Dream, which generally speaks out on the injustice that minorities regularly experience.
“Hey, I say we’re all created equal/ That’s what they teach us/ But that ain’t how we treat each other/ Naw, that ain’t how we treat each other/ Sh–, the truth is that we need each other, yea,” he wailed from his ground-level stance, as viewers chimed in in real-time with “RIP George Floyd” and “#BLM” comments and candle emojis.
The Afro-Mexican artist shared a clip from the 40-minute concert on his Instagram today (May 29), directly following the news of Chauvin being taken into custody and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter for Floyd’s death. “Officer Chauvin has been arrested . Now, we want ALL the rest of the officers involved arrested. AND convicted . CALL 6123244499,” he urged his 3.3 million Instagram followers in the caption.
Watch the end of Miguel’s touching performance below.