Many celebrities have been speaking out about the unjust levels of police violence against Black people in the United States. This week, Queen Latifah explained how it feels being the daughter and family member of many police officers. Her response might surprise you.

While promoting her new movie Ice Age: Collision Course on the Today Show, she said, “I’m Black wherever I go. I’m Queen Latifah everywhere I go. I deal with the same experiences that other people deal with.” While she has more class privilege than many people of color, she recognizes that Blackness transcends class when dealing with police violence.

Queen Latifah’s perspective on this issue is so important because of her close proximity to police officers. She explained in the interview that she identifies with officers through her familial ties. She said, “I’m also the daughter of a cop. I’m also the sister of a cop. The cousin of cops and the niece of cops. So do I want the guns to now be turned on cops? I don’t want the guns turned on police anymore than I want the guns turned on us.”

Given her background and familiarity with police officers, one might have expected her to have a more conservative opinion on how to deal with police violence. However, Latifah had a much more direct answer.

“It’s time to make an example out of someone, as far as I’m concerned, who is a police officer ’cause there’s no way all these things can happen and there’s no guilty police officers.”

She couldn’t be more right.

Queen Latifah supports justice for those who have been slain by police officers. She said that too often, “no one is really brought to justice at the end of the day. By the time it’s all said and done, the police officers usually walk. What it does is leave us feeling empty and feeling hurt and feeling like we have no recompense and that it’s gonna happen again.”

It is great to see someone of her stature speaking out so candidly on this critical issue facing people of color, specifically Black people, today.

Watch the clip below.

Photo: Screenshot