Nick Cannon explains why he felt he had to go to Minneapolis

Nick Cannon is discussing why he felt compelled to go to Minneapolis and join the protests against the death George Floyd’s murder.

The actor and musician opened up about his decision in a piece for Variety.

“I needed to see the people in that community — how much love they had for their community and their people and how much pain this has caused,” Cannon wrote. “We feel the pain go across the world — the anger and the hurt. Those visuals will never be removed from our minds.”

Cannon posted several powerful images from the demonstrations on Instagram.

What we need is a new normal, a new paradigm. I want us to focus on our humanity and dismantling racist systems that we don’t need that perpetuate crimes of inequality and oppress communities of color all over our country. We have to dismantle all of those systems that this country was built on,” Cannon wrote.

He also said that his own children that he shares with Mariah Carey are fearful of police.

“If we’re going to talk about what the solutions are, it has to be complete reform of not just a police department but of policing in general,” Cannon wrote. “I think it starts by removing the word ‘police.’ Why be a police officer when you can be a peace officer? When you see a police officer, you’re supposed to feel safe. They’re supposed to protect you. My kids are scared of police officers. In their minds, they’re the bad guys.”

But, Cannon wrote, he sees a path to progress. .

“I’m finding signs of hope in both mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul,” he wrote. “To see them respond immediately with care and compassion was the right thing to do. I saw a lot of pain and disappointment in their law enforcement. Being at 38th and Chicago and seeing people crying at the memorial it was disappointment more than anything. They didn’t think something like this would happen in Minneapolis. But it did. This is what America is. If it can happen in Minneapolis, it could happen in Georgia and it can happen in Los Angeles and it can happen in New York.”