Anxiety singer Doechii speaks out on protest crackdown, Gaza during BET Awards win speech
"I feel like it's my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people," she said. By SINAR DAILY REPORTER
10 Jun 2025 03:28pm
Doechii accepts the Best Female Hip-hop Artist award onstage during the 2025 BET Awards at Peacock Theater on June 9, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin / AFP)
SHAH ALAM - American rapper and singer Doechii used her moment on the BET Awards stage to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza and the suppression of ongoing immigration raids and protests happening just miles away from the ceremony in Los Angeles, United States (US).
After being honoured as the best female hip-hop artist, a milestone marking her first-ever BET Award, Doechii took a moment to recognise her fellow nominees before shifting the focus to pressing societal issues outside the venue. US rapper and singer Doechii attends the BET Awards 2025 at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP)
"I want to address what's happening right now outside of the building. There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order.
"Trump is using military forces to stop a protest. I want you all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us. What government is that?"
"People are being swept up and torn from their families. I feel like it's my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people.... We all deserve to live in hope and not fear. I hope we stand together," she said.
Her speech drew applause from the audience at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles where the awards aired live.
The BET Awards 2025 celebrated people in Black culture, including writers, musicians, filmmakers and more.
More Like This
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Borneo Post
35 minutes ago
- Borneo Post
Trump says US 'obliterated' Iran nuclear sites, threatens more
Trump addresses the nation, alongside Vance (left), Rubio (second right) an Hegseth from the White House in Washington, DC on June 21, 2025, following the announcement that the US bombed nuclear sites in Iran. – AFP photo WASHINGTON (June 22): President Donald Trump said US air strikes on Sunday had 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities, and warned of more attacks to come if Tehran does not seek peace. In a televised address to the nation from the White House after the United States joined Israel's air campaign against Tehran, Trump called the US attacks a 'spectacular military success.' Trump had earlier stunned the world by announcing on social media that US aircraft had struck Iran's Fordo nuclear enrichment plant, plus the Natanz and Isfahan facilities. But the fresh US military entanglement comes despite Trump's promises to avoid another 'forever war' in the Middle East — Iran has vowed to retaliate against US forces in the region if Washington got involved. 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran the bully of the Middle East must now make peace,' said Trump. 'If they do not, future attacks will be far greater, and a lot easier,' added Trump, who was flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his address on Saturday evening for US audiences. Trump said earlier on his Truth Social site that a 'full payload of BOMBS' was dropped on the underground facility at Fordo, describing it as the 'primary site.' Trump added that 'all planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors.' – 'Heads up' – Earlier Saturday there were reports that US B-2 bombers — which carry so-called 'bunker buster' bombs — were headed out of the United States across the Pacific. Trump did not say what kind of US planes or munitions were involved. Iranian media confirmed that part of the Fordo plant as well as the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites were attacked. Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attacks, while the United States also gave key ally Israel a 'heads up' before the strikes, a senior White House official told AFP. Netanyahu congratulated Trump on the strikes, saying that 'America has been truly unsurpassed.' Trump had said on Thursday that he would decide 'within two weeks' whether to join Israel's campaign — but the decision came far sooner. The US president had also stepped up his rhetoric against Iran in recent days, repeating his insistence that it could never have a nuclear weapon. Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned earlier Saturday of a 'more devastating' retaliation should Israel's nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear program 'under any circumstances.' On Saturday, Israel said it had attacked Isfahan for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit. Iran's Revolutionary Guard meanwhile announced early Sunday that 'suicide drones' had been launched against 'strategic targets' across Israel. Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear program 'cannot be taken away… by threats or war.' – Huthi threat – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Istanbul on Saturday for a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict. Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany had met Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume nuclear talks with the United States that had been derailed by the war. Iran's Huthi allies in Yemen on Saturday threatened to resume their attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, despite a recent ceasefire agreement. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Friday that, based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people had been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians. Iran's health ministry on Saturday gave a toll of more than 400 people killed in the Israeli strikes. Iran's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures. Leading US Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said Trump risked US 'entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,' while the Israeli army raised its alert level, permitting only essential activities until further notice. donald trump Iran nuclear. facilities US air strikes
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Congress members split over US attack on Iran
WASHINGTON: Republican and Democratic members of the US Congress delivered swift reactions to US bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities early on Sunday. The following are statements from key lawmakers: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, applauded the operation but cautioned that the United States now faced "very serious choices ahead." Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, Republican of Idaho, said, "This war is Israel's war, not our war, but Israel is one of our strongest allies and is disarming Iran for the good of the world." Risch added, "This is not the start of a forever war. There will not be American boots on the ground in Iran." "This is not constitutional," conservative Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky said on social media. He was referring to the power of Congress to declare war on foreign countries. US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, said, "The president gave Iran's leader every opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement." "The president's decisive action prevents the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, which chants 'Death to America,' from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet." Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said, "I stand with President Trump." Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a daughter of Palestinian immigrants: "President Trump sending US troops to bomb Iran without the consent of Congress is a blatant violation of our Constitution. The American people do not want another forever war. We have seen where decades of endless war in the Middle East gets us - all based on the lie of 'weapons of mass destruction.'" Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said the US public "is overwhelmingly opposed to waging war on Iran" and said Trump displayed "horrible judgment." Max Rose, a former Democratic member of Congress who now is a senior adviser to the progressive veterans' group "VoteVets," said, "Trump's decision to launch direct strikes against Iran without congressional authorisation is illegal." Rose added, "This conflict is his and the Republicans who have abrogated all their responsibilities." - Reuters
Barnama
an hour ago
- Barnama
UN Chief 'gravely Alarmed' By US Strike Against Iran, Warns About 'Dangerous Escalation'
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern Saturday after the US carried out strikes against Iran, warning about a "dangerous escalation" in the region, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. "I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge - and a direct threat to international peace and security," Guterres wrote on X. His remarks came after US President Donald Trump said American forces completed "very successful" airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites amid fears of a wider conflagration in the region.
