This is not the land of the free.
This is not the home of the brave,
if we cannot stand up
to our oppressors.
My life matters.
The life of my people matter.
And it's about time
that this country, these politicians,
these corrupt police officers
know that,
and they know that we're tired,
and we're not going to sit by
and allow it to happen anymore.
-Black lives matter!
For me to be Black in America
is to be constantly
have to question
why I fight so hard
for a country who does not
fight for me.
I fight for everything
I have.
I fight for every job.
I fight for every opportunity to vote.
And this country does
not support that.
This country sits by
and allows its people
to watch each other be murdered
in the streets on video
without justice.
It says to me
that they're
doing these things
in public,
because they know they can.
And they know they're getting away with it.
To see my people brutalized
in color,
in real time,
to watch these police protests
and watch my people
tear-gassed,
watch my people hit with
rubber bullets,
end up in the hospital
losing eyes,
that is not OK.
- The people united
can never be defeated.
We are no longer willing
to sit back and
be silent
against violence
and injustice.
We have three generations here.
We all have our own stories
of how racism
and systematic oppression
and injustice has impacted us.
And today we're saying, "No more."
I dealt with racism in school,
in my professional career
and in my personal life.
It sticks with you.
It builds a framework
that you have to
every day fight from
and understand how you're
making your choices
and how you're living your life.
So it's not just something that
I deal with in that moment.
I wake up every day
and I know racism is around me.
But today I'm here to say:
I don't want to be silent in that world anymore.
And I want to make everyone aware
that racism needs to stop.
I think everybody has their role.
If it's not here, maybe it's
conversations with your family.
Maybe it's posting things
on social media.
Or maybe it's just
educating yourself.
What we need is for white folks
to come to these spaces
to listen, to learn
and to take the information
back to their communities
and tear down systems
of white supremacy.
It's the institution that allows
for a police officer
to sit comfortably
on the neck of George Floyd
for nine minutes
and no other officer
stepped in to help.
When you look at the
prison industrial complex system,
or if you even look at COVID-19
and this pandemic
and how Black people are being
disproportionately affected
because of lack of adequate
health care
in this country,
all across the spectrum.
Black Lives Matter
is not just about police brutality,
it's about the injustices
that happen in our communities
every day.
I'm right here trying to volunteer
to help people,
you know it's the corona pandemic,
we're trying to
protect people
while they're trying to
get our voices heard
by giving out masks, sanitizers,
free food, free snacks,
free water as well.
Keeping them hydrated.
Keeping them safe.
I'm here, not just for myself.
I'm here for my children
and for my grandchildren.
So tomorrow,
they can walk the streets free
with no target on their backs,
no cops pulling them over
and not being profiled.
There needs to be a
systematic overhaul
of how we view race
in this country,
how we
view the justice system
in this country,
how we review judges,
doctors,
lawyers,
teachers.
Everyone
needs
to change how they
conceptualize
race in this country,
or nothing's ever going to change.
And that starts with these protests.
That starts with us talking.
That starts with us
letting you know
what is up.
And then it is your duty
to follow through.