George Clooney Writes A Poem About America

As President Donald Trump continues his attack on the country’s NFL players who protest by kneeling during the national anthem, Hollywood actor George Clooney has written a poem to mark this moment.

The poem (or prayer), which was published by the US media outlet Daily Beast, reflects on race, police, and America:

I pray for my country.

I pray that we can find more that unites us than divides us.

I pray that our nation’s leaders want to do the same.

I pray that young children like Tamir Rice* can feel safe in their own neighborhood.

I pray for all of our children.

I pray for our police and our first responders.

I pray for our men and women of the armed services.

I pray that dissent will always be protected in this great country.

I pray for a more perfect union.

And when I pray, I kneel.

* Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African-American boy, was shot dead by two policeman in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2014, after they received a dispatch call of a black male that, “keeps pulling a gun out of his pants and pointing it at people.” At the beginning of the call and again in the middle the caller says of the pistol “it’s probably fake”. The police shot the boy dead and he died the next day.  Rice’s gun was later found to be an Airsoft replica that lacked the orange safety feature marking it as a toy, and not a true firearm.