Teyana Taylor Honors Victims of Police Brutality on 'Still'

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The "Still" visual begins with a clip of Malcom X's fervent 1962 speech addressing police brutality as historical images from the Civil Rights Movement and Jim Crow era flash across the screen. "Still" opens with the words, "A Spike Tey Joint," modeled after, "A Spike Lee Joint," which can be seen in the openings of Spike Lee's films.

Taylor pays homage to historical victims of police brutality, as well as recent lives taken from racist violence: Emmet Till, Rodney King, Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, Rumain Brisbon, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and more. "I keep cryin' for love/ But it won't wipe, won't wipe my tears," she sings, at one point emulating the Black Panther Party by wearing their uniform.

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In several heart-rending scenes, Taylor wears symbols commonly associated with victims of racist violence, singing with tears streaming down her face. A superimposed visual of Breonna Taylor is shown with Taylor who wears her EMS uniform. Taylor then wears a black hoodie with an image of Trayvon Martin surrounding her, and plays a violin with an image of Elijah McClain doing the same. She's later in handcuffs, before showing a clip of George Floyd's arrest.

In a recent Instagram post, Taylor commented on the visual's dedication to justice. "We are STILL emotional," she wrote. "We STILL keep fighting for love, justice. Yet we STILL keep losing our beautiful black lives Where's our healing?"

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She explained that this video was shot a few months back, but its message still remains relevant and vital. "It's crazy how to this day our cry for love is STILL so relevant today and plans to be for a very long time smh!" Taylor said. "WE DEMAND CHANGE!!! There wasn't one day that went by in the editing room that I didn't shed a tear."

Stream The Album by Teyana Taylor, below.

Photo via Getty/ Rich Fury/ Def Jam Recordings