''Bear Witness, Take Action'' is a pair of American

livestreams Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- live ...

, the first one streamed on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on June 13, 2020, as part of a

YouTube Original programming YouTube is an American social media and online video platform, online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. H ...

supporting the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

movement in correspondence with the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

. It gathers notable

people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

in the United States such as

Patrisse Cullors Patrisse Marie Khan-Cullors Brignac (née Cullors-Brignac; born June 20, 1983) is an American activist, artist, and writer who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement. Cullors created the hashtag in 2013 and has written and spoken widely abo ...

, Rashad Robinson,

Alicia Garza Alicia Garza ( Schwartz; born January 4, 1981) is an American civil rights activist and writer known for co-founding the Black Lives Matter movement. She is a recognized advocate for social and racial justice, with a particular focus on issues ...

, Prince Ea,

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

, etc., and hosted by

Keke Palmer Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer ( ; born August 26, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and television personality. She has received numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Screen Act ...

and

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

. It centers around the history and experiences as people of color in America, as well as exploring ways to raise awareness and end the long

inequality Inequality may refer to: * Inequality (mathematics), a relation between two quantities when they are different. * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups ** Income inequality, an unequal distribution of i ...

. On November 17, 2020, it was announced that a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

titled '' Bear Witness, Take Action 2: Continuing the Movement'' will premiere on December 5, 2020. It lasted for two hours.

Background, production, and release

On May 25, 2020,

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

, an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

man, was murdered by officer

Derek Chauvin Derek Michael Chauvin ( ; born 1976) is an American former police officer who Murder of George Floyd, murdered George Floyd, a 46-year-old African Americans, African American man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On May 25, 2020, Floyd was arrest ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, as Floyd begged for his life and repeatedly said "I can't breathe." As a result, an ongoing series of protests and civil unrest began, starting in Minneapolis, as part of the

movement. "I can't breathe" became a human rights slogan, heard chanted in nearly all protests created nationally and

globally Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

. Representing

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Susan Wojcicki Susan Diane Wojcicki ( ; July 5, 1968 – August 9, 2024) was an American business executive who was the chief executive officer of YouTube from 2014 to 2023. Her net worth was estimated at $765 million in 2022. Wojcicki worked in the te ...

says that YouTube will be doing a US$100 million "project" to "amplify and develop the voices of ack creators and artists and their stories," which will be a YouTube Original program "bring ngtogether creators, artists, influential public figures and prominent activist voices for roundtable discussions and musical performances." Viewers can also choose to donate to the

Equal Justice Initiative The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a non-profit organization, based in Montgomery, Alabama, that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and ot ...

(EJI) via an icon set to the

livestream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

. In the livestream's teaser. A day later, ''

ET Canada ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' (commonly shortened to ''ET Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series that aired on the Global Television Network from 2005 to 2023. Its branding and format were based on the American entertainm ...

'' reported a US$1 million of donations to the

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

via the livestream, which reflects donations received by

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

announced on June 3. YouTube's monetary response is also similar to that of

PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support E-commerce payment system, online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alter ...

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

, and

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

in response to the protests. In addition to YouTube's BLM response, content policies will also be updated, preventing hate videos from spreading. A previous programming, ''

Dear Class of 2020 ''Dear Class of 2020'' was a 2020 online event streamed live on June 7, 2020 on YouTube. It was a virtual commencement event that features speeches and performances from prominent personalities aimed at graduating students of all levels whose act ...

,'' also briefly highlighted the protests. A 39-second teaser was posted two days before. The teaser also featured an icon to the EJI. The teaser featured several lonely-looking shots, backgrounded with protesters chanting. The livestreamed is then streamed on July 13, 2020, at 6 p.m.

Eastern Standard Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behind ...

Summary

The livestream is divided into 21 sequences, or chapters. The second chapter, titled ''20 Days of Unrest'', is a

grayscale In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a greyscale (more common in Commonwealth English) or grayscale (more common in American English) image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample (signal), s ...

-altered

mashup Mashup may refer to: * Mashup (culture), the rearrangement of spliced parts of musical pieces as part of a subculture * Mashup (education), combining various forms of data and media by a teacher or student in an instructional setting * Mashup (mus ...

of footages related to racism in America. Attorney

Bryan Stevenson Bryan Stevenson (born November 14, 1959) is an American lawyer, social justice activist, and law professor at New York University School of Law, and the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Based in Montgomery, Alabam ...

talks about the history of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and racism in the United States.

Soledad O'Brien María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for '' Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk sho ...

interviews

Kimberlé Crenshaw Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (born May 5, 1959) is an American civil rights advocate and a scholar of critical race theory. She is a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specializes in race and gender issues. Cr ...

, Kimberly Foster, and Rashad Robinson around the theme "rethinking

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

." The next chapter, ''Enough is Enough'', is a mashup of notable YouTubers talking about

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

and

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

. O'Brien then interviews

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

Amber Whittington,

, and Minnesota Fats. Next,

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

performs song "How Many Times." A number of white YouTubers show support against racism. Next, Roland Martin interviews Chaz Smith, Michael Skolnik, and Eddie Glaude, Jr., under the theme "

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the Social privilege, societal privilege that benefits white people over Person of color, non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or ...

." Next is

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

''In Here, Out There'', followed by Indya Moore doing the same thing centering on

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

people of color. Roland interviews

Bakari Sellers Bakari T. Sellers (born September 18, 1984) is an American attorney, political commentator, and politician. Sellers served in the South Carolina House of Representatives for the 90th District from 2006 to 2014, and was the 2014 Democratic no ...

Baratunde Thurston Baratunde Rafiq Thurston (; born September 11, 1977) is an American writer, comedian, and commentator. Thurston co-founded the black political blog ''Jack and Jill Politics'', whose coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention was archived ...

, and

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection ''Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti ...

. Several people then made a "message" to those died of racism, followed by a

moment of silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture o ...

. O'Brien interviews Prince Ea, Jouelzy, and

, regarding "bear ngwitness."

Brittany Howard Brittany Amber Howard (born October 2, 1988) is an American musician from Athens, Alabama. She rose to prominence in the early 2010s as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter of Alabama Shakes. Her work with Alabama Shakes ...

performs " 13th Century Metal," followed by a spoken word by several people, and an interview by

Jemele Hill Jemele Juanita Hill ( ; born December 21, 1975) is an American sports journalist. She worked for the '' Raleigh News & Observer'', the ''Detroit Free Press'', and the ''Orlando Sentinel''. She joined ESPN in 2006 and worked in various roles unt ...

with

, Kimberly Jones, and

Andrew Hawkins Andrew Austin Wyatt Hawkins (born March 10, 1986) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns and two seasons for the Mon ...

. Next is a motivational video titled ''Pledge'', followed by a speech by Susan Wojcicki, and John Legend covering

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

's "

Redemption Song "Redemption Song" is a song by Jamaican singer Bob Marley. It is the final track on Bob Marley and the Wailers' twelfth album, '' Uprising'', produced by Chris Blackwell and released by Island Records. The song is considered one of Marley's gre ...

." The end sequence features resources regarding the topic.

Reception

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

's Melissa Camacho gave it four out of five stars. She labeled the "character strengths" as what the livestream stand out for. She said that it "offers a unified narrative about what the problems are and what needs to be done," and says that "''Bear Witness, Take Action'' is designed to inspire people to go beyond simply reacting to racism on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, and instead take proactive steps to ensure that people and institutions are held accountable for their racist behaviors. Only then can America start to heal and finally bring about change."

References

External links

*
Bear Witness, Take Action
' on

{{YouTube Premium films and documentaries 2020s English-language films