Blood Orange singer Dev Hynes and his girlfriend Samantha Urbani (formerly of Friends) were assaulted by security guards after their set at Lollapalooza several weeks ago, during which they spoke about racism and police brutality and wore homemade shirts with the words “Stop Police Brutality” and the names of victims emblazoned on them. On Saturday, Blood Orange played a free SummerStage show in Central Park, where, onstage and in an interview with Okayplayer, he again spoke out against racism and “this fucking police state we’re all starting to live in,” addressing both his own shocking assault and the recent tragedy in Ferguson:

None of it, you don’t want it to be real. And it is. And I don’t know what’s happening or what’s going to happen. With me, it feels like getting poked all my life. It feels like that. Maybe sometimes, there’s a punch, but it seems like it’s just that irritating jab that keeps getting pushed. And I think everyone is just kind of very tired of it … I feel like in our cultures you associate time with learning and progression. You assume, in any field, in regards to anything, that over a period of time, there’s a progression, and you learn. And so I think in our culture it’s just a real shock when you actually realize that that doesn’t add up in everything. Just because the Civil Rights Act was 50 years ago doesn’t mean that we’re 50 times past it. And it’s shocking … There is no quick fix and there’s no solution to this. And that’s what I think is, for me, anyway, the most upsetting thing. Because you can riot, and you can speak onstage, or tweet, or sign petitions, but like, a petition doesn’t change some random dick cop’s opinion of the world. So it’s just a really horrible, desolate zone of hope that you’re just kind of left in. And you just have to kind of soldier on in your own way and make the best of yourself and look after yourself and look after others. Change can probably happen, but that’s a long long long process of just planting seeds and just hoping eventually that shit grows down the line.

You can watch the full interview via OKP TV below.