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GIVING HONOR TO GOD, TO OUR PASTOR, REVEREND JAYSON LAWRENCE TURNER, TO ALL THE CLERGY, OUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS, AND MOST OF ALL, THE FAMILY OF TYRE NICHOLS. LET ME SAY THAT WE'RE BLESSED TO HAVE A YOUNG PASTOR WHO HAS LABORED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PROPHETIC VISIONS. [APPLAUSE] AND WHO IMMEDIATELY SAID TO LET US CELEBRATE TYRE HERE AT THIS GREAT CHURCH. PEOPLE LIKE JASON TURNER AND MATT VAUGHAN, IN THE MINISTRY EVERY DAY. A LOT OF MINISTERS SHOW UP WHEN THE CAMERAS SHOW UP AND LEAVE WHEN THE CAMERAS LEAVE. >> THAT'S RIGHT. >> HE'S BEEN WITH US FOR MANY YEARS, AND HE'S A GREAT GIANT IN HIS OWN RIGHT. GIVE A HAND TO REVEREND JASON TURNER. [APPLAUSE]
LET ME ALSO SAY THAT I WANT TO RECOGNIZE THERE ARE OTHER FAMILIES THAT HAVE COME FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO KNOW WHAT MR. AND MRS. WELLS ARE GOING THROUGH, AND ALL OF THE SIBLINGS. I WANT THEM TO STAND AND BE RECOGNIZED BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHAT IT IS TO SIT AT A FUNERAL LIKE THIS. I KNOW THE FAMILY OF GEORGE FLOYD IS HERE. STAND UP. STAND UP. BRANDON, BOTHAM JOHN IS HERE, PHILON PHILOIUS, AND THE MOTHER OF ERIC GARNER FROM NEW YORK IS HERE, GWEN CARR. THE MOTHER OF BREONNA TAYLOR, TAMIKA PALMER, IS HERE. AND THERE MAY BE OTHERS THAT I DID NOT HAVE THE NOTE FOR. I WANT THE FAMILY TO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE COME TO BE WITH YOU ON THIS DAY FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
AND WE THANK THE WHITE HOUSE. THE PRESIDENT TALKED TO THE FAMILY BUT SENT A DELEGATION LED BY THE FORMER MAYOR OF ATLANTA, WHO NOW IS RUNNING POLICY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT IN THE WHITE HOUSE, MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS. THE HEAD OF INFRASTRUCTURE, THE INFRASTRUCTURE CZAR OF THE COUNTRY, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS, STAND UP, MITCH LANDRIEU IS HERE. THE FIGHTING CONGRESSWOMAN FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS, FIGHTING FOR REPARATIONS IN CONGRESS, SHEILA JACKSON LEE IS HERE. AND MY FRIEND AND BROTHER, THE CONGRESSMAN RIGHT HERE FROM TENNESSEE, CONGRESSMAN STEVE COHEN IS HERE.
MANY YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A CONTROVERSY IN CALIFORNIA, AND THERE WAS ONE WHO STOOD UP FOR JUSTICE. I WATCHED THEM GROW AS THEY FOUGHT AND TOOK A BALANCED AND PRINCIPLED STAND SUPPORTING WHAT WAS RIGHT, EVEN WHEN IT WASN'T POPULAR. THEY GREW FROM ONE OFFICE TO ANOTHER. EVERY OFFICE THEY RAN FOR, POLITICAL POLLING TOLD THEM THEY COULDN'T WIN, AND THEY KEPT BEATING THE POLLS. THEY TOLD HER SHE SHOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY, BUT THE SNOW BACKED UP, AND SHE'S HERE, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. [APPLAUSE]
I WANT YOU TO TURN YOUR ATTENTION VERY BRIEFLY TO THE 37TH CHAPTER OF GENESIS. IT READS, "SO JOSEPH WENT AFTER HIS BROTHERS AND FOUND THEM NEAR DOTHAN, BUT THEY SAW HIM IN THE DISTANCE, AND BEFORE HE REACHED THEM, THEY PLOTTED TO KILL HIM. HERE COMES THAT DREAM!" THEY SAID TO EACH OTHER, "COME NOW, LET'S KILL HIM AND THROW HIM INTO ONE OF THE CISTERNS AND SAY THAT A FEROCIOUS ANIMAL HAS DEVOURED HIM." MAY GOD ADD A BLESSING TO THE READING OF HIS WORD.
EARLY THIS MORNING, BEFORE DAWN, I DID WHAT I OFTEN DO WHEN I COME TO MEMPHIS. I WENT OUT TO THE LORRAINE MOTEL. AS A YOUNGSTER, I JOINED SCLC, OPERATION BREADBASKET. I HAD BEEN A BOY PREACHER IN THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST, AND MY MOTHER WAS CONCERNED WHEN I WAS 12 THAT I WAS GETTING TOO INVOLVED IN ACTIVISM, LOOKING AT ADAM CLAYTON POWELL AND OTHERS. SHE TOOK ME TO MY BISHOP, BISHOP F.D. WASHINGTON, WHO SAID, "I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH HIM," AND HE BROUGHT ME TO REVEREND WILLIAM JONES, WHO LED DR. KING'S ORGANIZATION IN NEW YORK, AND REVEREND JESSE JACKSON. AT 13, THE YEAR DR. KING DIED, I BECAME YOUTH DIRECTOR OF THE CHAPTER IN NEW YORK.
SO IT WAS MY GROWING UP IN THE KING MOVEMENT IN THE NORTH AFTER HIS DEATH THAT MAKES ME COME TO THE LORRAINE HOTEL AND LOOK AT THE SPOT WHERE DR. KING DIED. THIS MORNING, I TOOK MY YOUNGEST DAUGHTER, ASHLEY, WITH ME. I TOLD HER THE STORY OF HOW DR. KING CAME TO MEMPHIS TO FIGHT FOR GARBAGE WORKERS, CITY EMPLOYEES WHO HAD NO SAFETY. TWO HAD BEEN KILLED DUE TO MALFUNCTIONS. AND HERE WE ARE, 55 YEARS LATER, LOOKING AT THE BALCONY WHERE MARTIN LUTHER KING SHED HIS BLOOD FOR CITY WORKERS, FOR BLACK CITY WORKERS, TO BE ABLE TO WORK IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WORK IN SANITATION.
THE REASON WHAT HAPPENED TO TYRE IS SO PERSONAL TO ME IS THAT FIVE BLACK MEN, WHO WOULDN'T HAVE HAD A JOB IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WOULD NOT EVER BE THOUGHT OF TO BE IN AN ELITE SQUAD IN THE CITY WHERE DR. KING LOST HIS LIFE, NOT FAR AWAY FROM THAT BALCONY, BEAT A BROTHER TO DEATH. THERE'S NOTHING MORE INSULTING AND OFFENSIVE TO THOSE OF US WHO FIGHT TO OPEN DOORS THAN TO SEE YOU WALK THROUGH THOSE DOORS AND ACT LIKE THE FOLKS WE HAD TO FIGHT FOR TO GET YOU THROUGH THEM. [APPLAUSE]
YOU DIDN'T GET ON THE POLICE DEPARTMENT BY YOURSELF. THE POLICE CHIEF DIDN'T GET THERE BY HERSELF. PEOPLE HAD TO MARCH, GO TO JAIL, AND SOME LOST THEIR LIVES TO OPEN THE DOORS FOR YOU. HOW DARE YOU ACT LIKE THAT SACRIFICE WAS FOR NOTHING. YOU AIN'T IN NO NEW ENGLAND STATE. YOU'RE IN TENNESSEE, WHERE WE HAD TO FIGHT FOR YOU. AND YOU TAKE THAT POSITION AND DO WHAT WE SAW, AND THEN SOME OF YOU ALL GOT ALL THIS MESS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE WRITING ON SOCIAL MEDIA. I KNOW WHAT I SAW ON THE TAPE. AND THE TAPE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. THEY NEVER ASKED THIS MAN FOR HIS LICENSE. NEVER ASKED FOR THE CAR REGISTRATION. SNATCHED HIM OUT OF THE CAR AND BEGAN BEATING HIM. NOBODY MENTIONED NOTHING ABOUT NO GIRLFRIEND. NOBODY MENTIONED NOTHING ABOUT NO -- THEY STARTED BEATING AN UNARMED MAN.
>> SET THEM STRAIGHT. FIX IT. TELL THEM. TELL THEM. TELL THEM. >> IN THE CITY THAT THEY SLAIN THE DREAMER, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE DREAM? IN THE CITY WHERE THE DREAMER LAID DOWN AND SHED HIS BLOOD, YOU HAVE THE UNMITIGATED GALL TO BEAT YOUR BROTHER, CHASE HIM DOWN, AND BEAT HIM SOME MORE. CALL FOR BACKUP, AND THEY TAKE 20 MINUTES, AND YOU WATCH HIM WHILE YOU'RE TOO BUSY TALKING AMONG EACH OTHER, NO EMPATHY, NO CONCERN. IF YOU READ THE STORY OF JOSEPH, WHEN HIS BROTHERS THREW HIM IN THE PIT, NOBODY CAME TO HELP HIM, JUST LIKE NOBODY CAME TO HELP TYRE, WAITING ON AMBULANCE SERVICE THAT DIDN'T SHOW UP UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HIS DREAM? WE'LL JUST TELL THEM SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENED, BUT WE'RE GOING TO THROW HIM IN A PIT. BUT I COME TO MEMPHIS TODAY TO TELL YOU THE SAME MISTAKE JOSEPH'S BROTHERS MADE IS A MISTAKE YOU MADE. YOU THOUGHT YOU THREW JOSEPH IN A PIT. YOU THOUGHT YOU THREW DR. KING'S DREAM IN A PIT. BUT EVERY TIME YOU THROW SOMETHING IN A PIT, GOD TAKES THE PIT AND RAISES IT UP AND CHANGES THE WHOLE WORLD.
LET ME BE CLEAR, WE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY. WE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S A NEED TO DEAL WITH CRIME, BUT YOU DON'T FIGHT CRIME BY BECOMING CRIMINALS YOURSELF. [APPLAUSE] YOU DON'T STAND UP TO THUGS IN THE STREET BY BECOMING THUGS YOURSELF. YOU DON'T FIGHT GANGS BY BECOMING FIVE ARMED MEN AGAINST AN UNARMED MAN. THAT AIN'T THE POLICE. THAT AIN'T THE POLICE. THAT'S PUNKS. [APPLAUSE]
A MAN SAID, "I DIDN'T DO NOTHING." YOU KEPT ON GOING ANYHOW. WHY DO THEY GO AHEAD? BECAUSE THEY FEEL THAT THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY. THEY FEEL THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET ANGRY FOR A DAY OR TWO AND THEN WE'RE GOING ON TO SOMETHING ELSE. SOME OF US DO THIS EVERY DAY. SOME OF US BELIEVE IN THE DREAM HAS TO COME TRUE. SOME OF US ARE GOING TO FIGHT UNTIL WE MAKE THIS LEGISLATION HAPPEN. I DON'T KNOW WHEN. I DON'T KNOW HOW. BUT WE WON'T STOP UNTIL WE HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE AND CHANGE THIS SYSTEM. [APPLAUSE]
>> WHY DO WE WANT TO SEE THE GEORGE FLOYD JUSTICE IN POLICING ACT PASSED? BECAUSE THEN YOU HAVE TO THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU BEAT TYRE NICHOLS. YOU THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU SHOOT AT SOMEONE UNARMED. YOU THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU CHOKE HOLD ERIC GARNER. YOU THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR KNEE ON GEORGE FLOYD'S NECK. BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE QUALIFIED IMMUNITY, YOUR WIFE WOULD BE TELLING YOU BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME, "BEHAVE YOURSELF BECAUSE WE COULD LOSE THE HOUSE, WE COULD LOSE THE CAR, BEHAVE YOURSELF BECAUSE OUR SAVINGS CAN BE GONE." YOU WANT TO BE A TOUGH GUY? WELL, LET'S GET RID OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY AND SEE IF YOU LEARN THE SAME MANNERS YOU HAVE ON THE WHITE SIDE OF TOWN, YOU'LL HAVE SOME MANNERS ON THE BLACK SIDE OF TOWN. [APPLAUSE]
REVEREND AL, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THEY'RE GOING TO KEEP CRIME DOWN IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND AT THE SAME TIME NOT BE TOUGH AND ROUGH. WELL, THEY DO IT THE SAME WAY THEY DO IT ON THE WHITE SIDE OF MEMPHIS, AND THEY KEEP THE CRIME DOWN WITHOUT BEING ROUGH AND TOUGH. HOW DO YOU HAVE THE SAME DEPARTMENT THAT CAN KEEP CRIME DOWN ON ONE SIDE OF TOWN WITHOUT BEATING FOLKS TO DEATH? BUT YOU CAN'T DO IT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN UNLESS YOU FEEL THAT YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT THERE.
I CAN'T SPEAK FOR EVERYBODY IN MEMPHIS. I CAN'T SPEAK FOR EVERYBODY GATHERED HERE, BUT FOR ME, I BELIEVE THAT IF THAT MAN HAD BEEN WHITE, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BEATEN HIM LIKE THAT THAT NIGHT. >> WE'RE ASKING TO BE TREATED EQUAL AND TO BE TREATED FAIR. JUST LIKE THEY MARCHED AND BOYCOTTED AND WENT TO JAIL FOR NINE YEARS FROM THE '55 MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT TO THE '64 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, WE'RE GOING TO PAY THE SAME DUES TO GET THIS GEORGE FLOYD JUSTICE IN POLICING ACT. [APPLAUSE]
>> REVEREND, I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG, THEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW LONG IT WOULD BE WHEN THEY BOYCOTTED. IT'S NOT ABOUT A TIMETABLE. IT'S ABOUT WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO LIVE UNDER THESE DOUBLE STANDARDS AND UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. WE DON'T CARE HOW LONG, BUT I CAN TELL YOU ONE THING, THOSE OF YOU THAT KEEP VOTING AGAINST THAT BILL, WE'RE GOING TO VOTE AGAINST YOU. WE GOT MORE NUMBERS THAN THE POLICE UNIONS. I BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL DO FOR US WHAT WE WILL DO FOR OURSELVES. AND EVEN IN THE PIT, JOSEPH NEVER LOST HIS FAITH. JOSEPH COULD HAVE GIVEN UP. JOSEPH COULD HAVE GAVE OUT, BUT IN THE PIT, HE STILL BELIEVED IN THE GOD OF HIS FATHER.
AND EVEN AS I STAND OVER THE CASKET OF THIS INNOCENT YOUNG MAN, 29 YEARS OLD WITH A 4-YEAR-OLD SON THAT HIS MOTHER AND FATHER AND HIS SIBLINGS HAVE TO RAISE, I BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL TAKE TYRE OUT OF THAT PIT AND USE HIM AS A SYMBOL FOR JUSTICE ALL OVER THIS COUNTRY. I BELIEVE THAT UNBORN BABIES WILL KNOW ABOUT TYRE NICHOLS BECAUSE WE WON'T LET HIS MEMORY DIE. WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THIS COUNTRY BECAUSE WE REFUSE TO KEEP LIVING UNDER THE THREAT OF COPS AND ROBBERS. [APPLAUSE]
WHAT TOUCHED ME, I WAS RAISED BY A SINGLE MOTHER. DADDY LEFT WHEN I WAS 10. MAMA RAISED MY SISTER AND I ON WELFARE AND FOOD STAMPS. WHAT TOUCHED ME IS WHEN I HEARD HIM CALLING FOR HIS MOTHER, JUST LIKE GEORGE FLOYD WAS CALLING FOR HIS MOTHER. SOMETHING YOU'D HAVE TO BE A BLACK MAN TO UNDERSTAND. THE ONLY THING BETWEEN YOU AND DISASTER WAS YOUR MOTHER. TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CALLING FOR YOUR MOTHER MEANS, SOMEWHERE DEEP IN MY HEART, I UNDERSTOOD TYRE. BECAUSE THE ONLY THING THAT KEPT THE KIDS FROM LAUGHING AT MY BANANA SANDWICHES IN SCHOOL, BECAUSE SHE COULDN'T AFFORD ENOUGH TO PUT MEAT THERE, BUT MAMA WOULD MAKE IT ALL RIGHT FOR ME. AND HE KNEW IF HE COULD JUST GET TO HIS MOTHER, THEY WOULD QUIT BEATING HIM AND QUIT STOMPING ON HIM. ALL HE WANTED TO DO WAS GET HOME.
NOW, HOME, REVEREND JAMAL BRYANT, HOME IS NOT JUST A PLACE. HOME IS NOT JUST A PHYSICAL LOCATION. HOME IS WHERE YOU ARE AT PEACE. HOME IS WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP YOUR DUKES UP. HOME IS WHERE YOU'RE NOT VULNERABLE. HOME IS WHERE EVERYTHING IS ALL RIGHT. HE SAID, "ALL I WANT TO DO IS GET HOME." I COME TO MEMPHIS TO SAY THE REASON I KEEP GOING IS ALL I'M TRYING TO DO IS GET HOME. I WANT TO GET WHERE THEY CAN'T TREAT ME WITH A DOUBLE STANDARD. I'M TRYING TO GET HOME. I WANT TO GET WHERE THEY CAN'T CALL ME NAMES NO MORE. I WANT TO GET HOME. I WANT TO GET WHERE THEY CAN'T SHOOT AND ASK QUESTIONS LATER. I'M TRYING TO GET HOME. EVERY BLACK PERSON IN AMERICA STANDS UP EVERY DAY TRYING TO GET HOME.
LAST NIGHT, WE WENT TO MASON TEMPLE, THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST, AND THE WELLS FAMILY AND TYRE'S SISTERS AND BROTHERS STOOD THERE WHERE MARTIN LUTHER KING GAVE HIS LAST SPEECH. THEY DIDN'T KNOW THAT NIGHT IT WAS HIS SPEECH FOR THE LAST TIME. I WAS TOLD BY THOSE THAT WORKED WITH KING THAT RAISED ME, AND I RECOUNTED IT WITH MRS. KING. I WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH MARTIN III. WE'RE GOING BACK TO WASHINGTON ON AUGUST 26TH DURING HIS FATHER'S MARCH, THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY. WE'RE GOING TO DEAL WITH TYRE AND THE REST OF THESE ISSUES.
AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THAT DAY, APRIL 3RD, 1968, IT WAS RAINING AND STORMING. DR. KING SAID HE DIDN'T EVEN FEEL LIKE GOING TO THE RALLY. HE HAD COME TO MEMPHIS A WEEK BEFORE TO LEAD A MARCH FOR THE SANITATION WORKERS, AND SOME PROVOCATEURS GOT AT THE END OF THE MARCH. YOU KNOW, THERE'S STILL SOME AROUND, BLACKER THAN ANYBODY ELSE, MORE ACTIVE THAN ANYBODY ELSE, MORE STREET THAN ANYBODY ELSE. THEY STARTED A RIOT AT THE END OF THE MARCH. AND THE PRESS SAID, "OH, DR. KING'S DAY IS OVER. NONVIOLENCE IS DEAD." SO HE CAME BACK TO PROVE THAT HE COULD MARCH. IF IT WASN'T FOR SO-CALLED MILITANTS, DR. KING WOULD HAVE NEVER FACED WHAT HE FACED.
THAT'S WHY ALL OF THESE PEOPLE TALKING BAD THAT YOU AND I DON'T KNOW, DON'T HAVE NO BACKGROUND ON, BE CAREFUL OF WHO JUMPS IN MOVEMENTS. BECAUSE THEY SET SERIOUS FOLKS UP. DR. KING CAME BACK, AND THAT DAY IT WAS RAINING, AND HE SAID TO DR. RALPH ABERNATHY, "YOU GO SPEAK, I DON'T FEEL LIKE GOING TONIGHT." AND THEY GOT THERE, AND THE CHURCH WAS FULL, IN A STORM. DR. ABERNATHY WENT INTO THE PAY PHONE AND CALLED BACK TO THE LORRAINE MOTEL, A BLACK-OWNED MOTEL. HE TOLD THEM, "ROOM 306." DR. KING PICKED UP THE PHONE. HE SAID, "MARTIN, YOU NEED TO COME. THERE ARE THOUSANDS HERE." THEY DIDN'T COME TO SEE ME. DR. KING GOT IN THE CAR BY HIMSELF AND RODE OVER TO MASON TEMPLE, AND HE STARTED SPEAKING THAT NIGHT, AND SOMETHING CAME OVER HIM. HE SAID, "I DON'T FEAR ANY MAN." HE SAID, "GOD HAS ALLOWED ME TO GO TO THE MOUNTAINTOP, AND I'VE SEEN THE PROMISED LAND." AND THAT'S THE LAST SPEECH HE GAVE RIGHT HERE IN MEMPHIS WHEN HE WENT TO THE MOUNTAINTOP.
I BELIEVE WHEN HE LOOKED OVER, HE COULD SEE A BARACK OBAMA BECOMING PRESIDENT. I BELIEVE WHEN HE WENT TO THE MOUNTAINTOP, HE COULD LOOK OVER AND SEE A KAMALA HARRIS SITTING AS VICE PRESIDENT. I BELIEVE WHEN HE LOOKED OVER FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP, HE SAW BLACK POLICE CHIEFS. HE DIDN'T EXPECT YOU TO DISGRACE HIM. HE EXPECTED YOU TO BRING US ON TO THE PROMISED LAND. THAT'S WHY I'M STILL MARCHING. YES, I GOT BOOKS OUT. YES, I GOT A TV SHOW. BUT I'M A MOUNTAIN CLIMBER. I'M NOT GOING TO STOP UNTIL I GET TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN. YOU CAN CALL ME NAMES ON RIGHT-WING TELEVISION. I'M A MOUNTAIN CLIMBER. I EXPECT STUMBLES TO COME MY WAY. I'M A MOUNTAIN CLIMBER. YOU CAN DISGRACE ME. YOU CAN DISCREDIT ME. BUT I'M GOING TO KEEP ON CLIMBING. I'M GOING TO CLIMB UNTIL JUSTICE IS SERVED. I'M GOING TO CLIMB UNTIL WE CHANGE THE LAWS. WE'RE MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS. WE'RE NOT DAY TRADERS. WE'RE MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS. AND IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? HE WALKS WITH ME. HE TALKS WITH ME. HE TELLS ME THAT I'M HIS OWN. HE'S BEEN FOOD WHEN I WAS HUNGRY, WATER WHEN I WAS THIRSTY. HE'S MY ROCK. HE'S MY ROCK. HE'S MY ROCK. MY SWORD AND SHIELD, MY WILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WILL. YES. YES.
>> LET US HAVE A CALL TO ACTION. LET US GO FORWARD TO GET JUSTICE. >> YES. >> LET US ALL BE MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS. DON'T STOP UNTIL WE GET TO THE TOP. MANY YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A YOUNG BOY KILLED AT A BOOT CAMP IN FLORIDA. THEY KILLED THIS BOY. THERE WAS A YOUNG LAWYER WHO CALLED ME FROM NEW YORK, WHO ASKED ME TO COME AND STAND WITH THE STUDENTS IN TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, AND I WENT DOWN AND WE LED SOME MARCHES. AFTER THAT, A COUPLE OF YEARS LATER, HE CAME TO SEE ME, THE MAN I JUST STARTED ACTION NATION WITH, WANTED ME TO MEET THIS MAN. THIS MAN SAT IN MY OFFICE AND TOLD ME THAT THEY WANTED TO BE SECURITY GUARDS THAT KILLED HIS SON. I HAD NOT HEARD OF THE CASE, BUT THE MAN STARTED CRYING, TELLING ME ABOUT HIS SON, TRAYVON MARTIN. AND AS I LOOKED AT HIS TEARS AND LOOKED AT THIS LAWYER, I THOUGHT ABOUT HOW I NEVER SAW MY FATHER CRY FOR ME. AND I SAID, "IF I CAN HELP, I'LL HELP." AND WE STARTED THE TRAYVON MARTIN MOVEMENT. WE CALLED THE NATIONAL MARCH. I GOT SOME OF THE RADIO ANNOUNCERS TO HELP US, AND WE PUT 10,000 PEOPLE IN THAT LITTLE TOWN IN FLORIDA.
THE MORNING OF THAT MARCH, MY MOTHER DIED. AND THEY THOUGHT I WOULD NOT COME, AND I STARTED TO TURN AROUND, BUT I SAID, "NO, MY MOTHER WOULD HAVE WANTED ME TO STAND UP FOR TRAYVON." AND THAT LAWYER AND I HAVE BEEN LOCKED SHOULDER TO SHOULDER EVER SINCE. HE'S KNOWN NOW ALL OVER THE WORLD AS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR BLACK AMERICA. WHY? BECAUSE HE'LL FIGHT FOR US WHEN OTHERS WON'T. ARE THEY GOING TO CALL YOU NAMES? THEY'RE GOING TO ALWAYS GIVE YOU ANOTHER ANGLE. THE ONLY WAY YOU KNOW YOU ARE MAKING ANY HEADWAY IS IF YOU HAVE OPPOSITION. THE ONLY TIME I GET CONCERNED IS WHEN EVERYBODY'S ON MY SIDE. BUT WHEN YOU ALL START CALLING NAMES, IT GIVES ME EXTRA FUEL TO KEEP GOING.