Making a Statement

Beyonce Brings Police Shooting Victims’ Moms to VMAs

Posed with mothers of unarmed black men killed by police.

Superstar Beyoncé brought the mothers of shooting victims Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Oscar Grant to MTV’s Video Music Awards on Sunday night. All four men were gunned down by police or, in the case of Martin, a volunteer security guard. Their names have become hugely important to the Black Lives Matter movement, a theme that frequently features in the singer’s music videos. Ahead of the VMAs, Beyoncé posed for photos with Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden-Head; Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton; Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson; and Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr. The women had appeared in Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade, holding up photos of their sons.