FIVE YEARS LATER THAT DID END
WITH HIS FIRING FROM THE POLICE
FORCE.
BUT THAT WAS IT.
JOINING US NOW IS GWEN CARR,
ERIC GARNER’S MOTHER, WHO PUT
HERSELF OUT TO SUPPORT WOMEN
AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO HAVE GONE
THROUGH SIMILAR TRAGEDIES.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE
TONIGHT.
IT’S AN HONOR TO HAVE SOME OF
YOUR TIME.
>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> I JUST WANTED TO KNOW YOUR
REACTION TO THE VERDICT IN THE
CHAUVIN TRIAL.
YOU PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE TO
TRY TO SUPPORT DAUNTE WHITE’S
MOTHER WHEN HE WAS KILLED A
COUPLE WEEKS AGO IN MINNEAPOLIS
NEARBY WHERE THIS TRIAL WAS
HELD.
THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH EMOTION
AND SO MUCH ANTICIPATION AND
WORRY IN THIS COUNTRY ABOUT THIS
VERDICT.
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO IT
TODAY?
>> YES.
IT’S SO MUCH TRAGEDY THAT’S
GOING ON.
ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER.
AND TODAY JUST TO HEAR THAT THEY
WERE GOING TO DO THE RIGHT THING
TO CHARGE THIS POLICE OFFICER
WITH FORTHE -- FOR THE CRIME HE
COMMITTED, I WAS ELATED.
I MEAN, TIERS CAME TO MY EYES
WHEN THE VERDICT CAME DOWN.
YOU SAID FINALLY WE GET A
GLIMMER OF JUSTICE.
THAT JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN.
IT DIDN’T HAPPEN IN MAY CASE.
IT DIDN’T HAPPEN IN SEAN BELL’S
CASE AND MICHAEL BROWN OR --
NONE OF OUR CASES, YOU KNOW.
AND IT WAS LIKE THE EVIDENCE WAS
THERE AND WITH MY SON, IT WAS A
VIDEO JUST LIKE IN GEORGE
FLOYD’S CASE, BUT THEY DECIDED
NOT TO INDICT, ADDING INDULT TO
INJURY, THEY DRUG THEIR FEET FOR
FIVE YEARS BEFORE THE DOJ SAID
THEY WEREN’T GOING ANY FURTHER.
BUT WE HAVE TO GO FURTHER.
AS MOTHERS, AS FAMILIES, WE ARE
GOING TO GO FURTHER.
AND THAT’S THE ONLY WAY THAT
THEY ARE WE ARE GOING TO PUSH
THEM TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
THAT’S THE ONLY WAY I GOT A
DEPARTMENTAL TRIAL.
>> MISS CARR, WHAT GIVES YOU THE
POWER, THE STRENGTH, THE ENERGY
TO REACH OUT TO OTHER FAMILIES,
OTHER MOTHERS, WHO HAVE GONE
THROUGH TRAGEDIES SIMILAR TO
WHAT YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH WITH
LOSING YOUR SON?
I CANNOT IMAGINE THE TOLL THAT
IT HAS TAKEN ON YOU AND YOUR
FAMILY.
BUT TO BE ABLE TO ENDURE THAT
TOLL AND THEN PUT YOURSELF OUT
THERE AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE AND
YOUR OWN -- COST OF YOUR OWN
ENERGY AND COST OF LIVING, ALL
THAT TRAUMA TO SUPPORT OTHER
WOMEN IN SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES
WHEN THEIR GRIEF IS SO RAW, HOW
DO YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH TO DO
IT?
>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE TO
PRAY A LOT.
YOU HAVE TO PRAY BEFORE YOU GOT
OUT HERE ON THIS JOURNEY.
FORDS AND SECOND OF ALL, WHEN
YOU CAN MAKE ANOTHER MOTHER A
LITTLE MORE COMFORTABLE AFTER
SHE HAS LOST HER CHILD WITH JUST
EMBRACING HER OR TRYING TO
LISTEN TO HER STORY OR TRYING TO
TALK ABOUT HER CHILD IN A
POSITIVE WAY, IT’S A FORM OF
THERAPY.
IF YOU COULD JUST HELP ONE
MOTHER, WHICH I TRY TO HELP MANY
MOTHERS, BUT SOMETIMES WHEN THE
MOTHER IS NOT WHERE YOU ARE,
THEY ARE LIKE BEDRIDDEN,
HOSPITALIZED, TAKEN HEAVY
MEDICATION, AND SOME ARE EVEN
ATTEMPTING TO COMMIT SUICIDE.
AND IF YOU COULD JUST TALK THESE
MOTHERS DOWN, IF YOU COULD JUST
SAY, LIKE AN ENLIGHTENING WORD
TO THEM, AND THEY LISTEN AND
THEY COULD COME BACK TO YOU AND
SAY, WHAT YOU SAID TO ME REALLY
HELPED ME, YOU KNOW, THAT’S
THERAPY.
AND IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER
ABOUT YOURSELF AND IT MAKES YOU
FEEL LIKE YOU ARE DOING
SOMETHING FOR THE COUNTRY, DOING
SOMETHING FOR THE OTHER MOTHERS
AND YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING FOR
YOURSELF IN HELPING YOUR CHILD’S
NAME GET RECOGNIZED.
>> I AM SO SORRY THAT THAT CHAIN
OF EMPATHY HAS TO EXIST IN OUR
COUNTRY.
AND THAT IT NEVER STOPS.
AND IT SEEMS LIKE WE CAN’T GET A
BREAK IN THE MOMENTUM OF IT.
BUT YOUR WILLINGNESS TO PASS
THAT FORWARD IN THAT WAY AND TO
OFFER THE KIND OF SUPPORT THAT
NOBODY WHO HASN’T BEEN THROUGH
IT CAN OFFER SOMEBODY ELSE WHO
IS IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES NEWLY,
IT IS A DEEP THING THAT YOU ARE