But this does not take away from the fact that within his short speech, Williams presented an important distillation of some of the conversations happening about social justice today. He quickly apologized and said that he “felt misunderstood.”But, as Williams intimated in his speech, sometimes conversations about race are uncomfortable. Williams also showed impatience with people who criticize the methods of groups such as Black Lives Matter but are not themselves involved in the fight for equality. A lot of the things Williams commented on have been said before by black political thinkers like the Rev. When “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Jesse Williams took to the BET Awards stage Sunday to accept this year’s humanitarian award, he stunned the Microsoft Theater audience and those watching at home with a passionate speech about, among other pressing issues, the Black Lives Matter movement.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 28, 2016 01:07 UTC