Beyoncé shared an open letter penned by her mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson, to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Charles Schumer with her 149 million followers on Instagram Sunday evening (June 28).
The letter urges the senators to pass the HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act -- the bill introduced in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals and businesses -- to help Americans, in particular the "disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities," safely exercise their right to vote in this year's elections.
The letter is co-signed by daughters Beyoncé and Solange, as well as celebrities like Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Regina King, Halle Berry, Jada Pinkett Smith, Whoopi Goldberg and Kerry Washington. Shareeduh McGee Tate (matriarch of the George Floyd family), Tamika Palmer (mother of Breonna Taylor), Gwen Carr (mother of Eric Garner), Kadiatou Diallo (mother of Amadou Diallo), Sybrina Fulton (mother of Trayvon Martin), Maria Hamilton (mother of Dontre Hamilton), Wanda Johnson (mother of Oscar Grant), Rep. Lucy McBath (mother of Jordan Davis) and Geneva Reed-Veal (mother of Sandra Bland) also co-signed it.
Beyoncé urged her fans to sign a
petition supporting the HEROES Act. She wrote:
