Following the police-involved death of George Floyd, protests have risen in Minneapolis, Minnesota where the tragic incident occurred and across cities in the United States. On Friday, May 29th, Activist Tamika Mallory, Actor and Singer Jamie Foxx and former NBA star Stephen Jackson held a press conference at the Minneapolis City Hall.
During the conference, the three called for justice demanded that the police officers involved in his death be charged. Tamika’s words , however, attracted the most attention with her speech going viral across social media.
Stressing the reality and pain of black people in America, she said, “This is not just a few cops doing things across the country. This is not a good cop versus bad cop situation. This is Ahmaud Arbery being shot down by white men on the streets of Georgia, Breonna Taylor being killed in her home.” She voiced “Black people are dying in a state of emergency. We cannot look at this as an isolated incident; the reason why buildings are burning is not just for our brother George Floyd. They’re burning down because people here in Minnesota are saying to people in New York, to people in California, to people in Memphis, to people all across this nation, ‘Enough is enough.”
Protesters have been criticised as events unfolded into the looting of a Target store in Minneapolis and other stores across the nation. Mallory stated, “I don’t give a damn if they burn down Target because Target should be on the streets with us calling for the justice that our people deserve. If you are not coming to the people’s defense, then don’t challenge us when young people and other people who are frustrated and instigated by the people you pay … [are] out there throwing rocks, breaking windows and burning down buildings.”
Mallory puts forward an easy way to stop all the violence saying “Arrest the cops. Charge the cops. Charge all the cops, not just some of them, not just here in Minneapolis, charge them in every city across America where our people are being murdered. Charge them everywhere. That’s the bottomline. Charge the cops.” she cried. “Do your job. Do what you say this country is supposed to be about, the land of the free for all. It has not been free for Black people, and we are tired.”
Speaking more on looting, she declared, “Don’t talk to us about looting. Y’all are the looters. America has looted Black people. America looted the Native Americans when they first came here. So, looting is what you do. We learned violence from you. If you want us to do better, then damn it, you do better.
Watch Tamika Mallory’s fiery speech here.
