Jimmie Allen Says the ‘Uncertainty’ of His Son’s Safety ‘Turns His Stomach’

As one of a handful of prominent black artists in country music, Jimmie Allen is speaking out after the death of George Floyd last week and the ensuing protests, sharing a message on social media over the weekend about the negative treatment of others. “It’s our job as humans to point out the negative treatment of people,” Allen began his post, which he captioned with a praying hands emoji. “It doesn’t matter if they look like us or not or if treatment of them directly affects us or not. If we see it and it doesn’t bother us, we need to check our hearts.”

The “Make Me Want To” singer pointed out that as a black man with black children, he is “worried” about the way society views black men and their lives. “The continued non value of life towards black men in America concerns me,” he wrote. “As a black man and a father raising a black boy, I’m worried. The uncertainty of his safety turns my stomach.” Allen concluded with a message to his fans, challenging them to spread love. “I challenge everyone to love each other and let our hearts speak louder than the injustice. Love so hard that it suffocates the hate,” he wrote. “With love, Jimmie Allen.”

Allen is a dad to 5-year-old son Aadyen from a previous relationship and shares a 3-month-old daughter Naomi with fiancée Alexis Gale. The 33-year-old further spoke about racial issues on Tuesday, which was a day chosen by two black women the music industry to pause normal posting and instead amplify black voices and continue to raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement. Allen explained that he wants to use his platform to educate people, again asking his followers to keep the “love in us.”

“This black square on my page is reminder of the darkness that we still live in,” he wrote. “Today I choose to focus on ways to shine light there and be an example of love and equality. I Choose to try and educate people on the racial prejudice that still exists in the hearts of SOME towards people that look like me. There are GREAT people in this world with open and loving hearts. Let’s not allow this situation to turn the love in us into hate. If that happens all of this is pointless.”