Teenage tennis phenomenon Coco Gauff has released a powerful protest video on her TikTok following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis asking, “Am I next?”
Dressed in a black hoodie to honor of Trayvon Martin — the unarmed African American teenager shot by George Zimmerman in 2012 — the 16-year-old faces the camera as a caption reads “This is why I am using my voice to fight against racism.”
The screen then fills with pictures of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Aiyana Jones, Freddie Gray and a composite shot of 16 African American men and women who have been killed by police or civilians due to racism.
At the end of the video, Gauff slowly raises her hands in the air as another caption asks: “Am I next?”
The video fades to black as another caption reads: “I am using my voice. Will you use yours?”
Gauff is just one of many celebrities adding their voice to the outrage after the unarmed Floyd died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nine minutes during an arrest. Chauvin was charged with Floyd’s murder on Friday.
In a corresponding Instagram post, Gauff posted 24 photos of men and women of color who have been killed because of their race and asked, “When will it stop? When will we be seen as human and not a threat? Rest in Peace to all of the beautiful souls whose lives were ended short due to racism. All lives will not matter until society proves they actually care about black lives.”