Emotional John Boyega rallies crowd at Black Lives Matter protest

The force was with Star Wars actor John Boyega as he rallied large crowds at a massive Black Lives Matter protest in London this week. There, speaking with a megaphone, he passionately told those in attendance that “now is the time” for people to step up and demand racial equality. “Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I ain't waiting. I ain't waiting," Boyega said in a speech that was captured by various bystanders.

 

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We stand with and support you, @johnboyega. View his full speech at link in bio.

A post shared by Star Wars (@starwars) on Jun 3, 2020 at 4:03pm PDT

In between sentences, Boyega was fighting back tears, which only made the crowd cheer louder in support of his emotional words. He also listed the names of many black people who have been killed by police in both America and the U.K. “This is so vital,” he added. “I need you guys to understand how painful this s--t is… We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence.”[video_embed id='1969215']RELATED: Trevor Noah, Lizzo, Rihanna and more lend their voices to anti-racist chorus[/video_embed]“I don’t know if I’ll have a career after this. But f**** that!” Boyega admitted. “Today is about innocent people who were halfway through their process. We don’t know what [they] would have achieved… But today we’re going to make sure that won’t be an alien thought to our young ones… today’s the day we remind them that we are dedicated and this is a lifelong dedication. We don’t leave here and stop.”Boyega may have been questioning what him speaking out would mean for future projects but fans and supporters didn't seem to have any worries. In the hours following the now-virtual speech, plenty of people took to their own social media accounts to share their love for the actor. Even OG Star Wars icon Mark Hamill was quick to stand by Boyega.

Never been more proud of you, John. @JohnBoyega❤️, dad https://t.co/XcXvBcblPG

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) June 3, 2020

We got you, John. https://t.co/oX7Rr52omx

— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) June 3, 2020

Outside parliament @JohnBoyega tells everyone to take a knee and says black people “I love you” pic.twitter.com/2egDZwmBzE

— SymeonBrown (@symeonbrown) June 3, 2020

the jedi we deserved #BlackLivesMatter #JohnBoyega pic.twitter.com/cF8P0khbm3

— deek says BLM ✊??️? (@mynamedeek) June 4, 2020

John Boyega plays a bigger role in real life than Finn does in Star Wars

— Heavenly ? (@HeavenlyControl) June 4, 2020

John Boyega. that’s it. that’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/yhnQcHkGKU

— c (@chuuzus) June 4, 2020

The 28-year-old also called for more peaceful protests, and urged everyone not to back down as the fight continues. “It is very, very important that we keep control of this movement, and we make this as peaceful as possible. We make this as peaceful and as organized as possible. Because you know what, guys? They want us to mess up. They want us to be disorganized. Not today. Not today!”[video_embed id='1970253']RELATED: Keke Palmer’s empowering talk with National Guard goes viral[/video_embed]