Solange Knowles demands an answer: 'Where can we be black?'
Musician Solange Knowles, sister of Beyoncé, made her anger known after a white man killed 9 black churchgoers in Charleston, SC on Wednesday.
After the shooting, Knowles Tweeted this message:
"Where can we be safe? Where can we be free? Where can we be black?"
Her comments touched a versatile group within her 2.17 million Twitter followers. Her words were acknowledged by white people and black people, celebrities and non-celebrities. The Tweet had the power to affect an entire mourning society struggling to understand how so much hatred, violence, and prejudice can still exist in the world today.
Racial inequality and brutality persists today despite its long and perilous history. From slavery to Walter Scott (an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a Charleston police officer) and now the Charleston church shooting, Knowles shed light on what we already know: this country has a huge problem.
Inspired by Knowles' comments, other stars took to social media to join the conversation. Actors Mark Ruffalo and Rob Lowe, both white men, utilized Twitter to express their disgust with both the race problem and gun violence in the United States. Their comments illuminate that this is everyone's problem and should be everyone's concern, not just black people's.
The media should be ashamed. 3 hours to get on air and then gives detailed suspect description WITHOUT mentioning his race. #Charleston
— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) June 18, 2015
People with guns kill people! 9 Dead In Shooting At Charleston Church http://t.co/MMX9CHz5t5 via @HuffPostCrime#BlackLivesMatter
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) June 18, 2015
Watch this video to see Gov. Nikki Haley speak about making citizens feel safe in their own home in light of the Charleston shooting:
More from AOL.com:
Remembering the 9 slain victims of the Charleston church massacre
Suspect captured in fatal Charleston church shooting
South Carolina is home to Ku Klux Klan and 18 other known hate groups
