CHELSEA SEABRON: Good
evening, everybody.
And welcome to Google New York.
It's so great to see you guys.
We've been preparing
for you for weeks,
so it's awesome to
see you guys here.
My name is Chelsea Seabron,
and it is my pleasure
to welcome you on behalf
of google.org who's
sponsoring this along with our
amazing partners to my left
here from HBO,
Participant Media.
We have some members of the
3 and 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets
film team, as well with us.
So the culmination of
everybody here today
is because of
those partnerships.
So some of you may
be wondering why
is Google taking on this film?
Why are we here
talking about this?
And this journey ultimately
started about six months ago
through our
partnership with PICO.
And so, through PICO, we've
had opportunity of expanding
that relationship to HBO.
And I would love for
you guys to stand
just so people can
see who you are
from HBO, Participant Media.
We've got Urban Cusp who's
a partnership that has come.
So let's give them
a round of applause.
[APPLAUSE]
So pretty much this
partnership started
after the unfortunate
and very tragic
shootings that
happened in Charleston.
And, after that, that
was the first moment
as a Google community
that our various employee
groups came together and
said we have to do something.
We to come together
in solidarity.
And we ended up actually doing
a global-wide movement where
everyone wore "Black
Lives Matter" t-shirts
across the globe.
And we were posting
these via Google+.
And it was a beautiful day
where, for the first time,
we acknowledged what's going
on in our communities that
ultimately are affecting
each individual employee.
And so, after that
day, google.org
stepped up in a really huge
way and made a $5 million
investment in racial justice.
So this is part of
that investment.
Since then, we've invested
half of that money
to organizations in the
Bay Area where I'm from.
And tonight you
guys are actually
the first to hear that the
last of that 2 and 1/2 million
will go out any day now.
So let's give it
up for google.org.
[APPLAUSE]
So my colleagues are back home.
They send their regards from
California, Justin Steele
and Jacquelline Fuller,
from google.org.
And, thought they're
not physically here,
they're trying to get
those grants out the door.
So let's talk a little bit
about tonight's program.
And, as you can see, we've
got food and networking.
Hopefully you've met somebody
who doesn't look like you.
And tonight we really
are challenging everybody
to get a little uncomfortable.
And we salute
everybody in this room
because to take on the choice to
come here tonight was not easy.
Talking about race is not easy.
And so, you know, I
salute everybody here
for taking that decision
to be uncomfortable,
especially the topic
of tonight's film.
We have a lot of employees
who have felt their blackness.
And black and brown
men, especially,
have been stigmatized with
awful feelings or associations
of being violent or dangerous.
And so tonight,
through this film,
we will explore this topic.
And I just want you guys
to understand and own
that we all have bias,
whether it's about race,
or religion, or anything else.
We all carry our own bias.
And so tonight we
just challenge you
to be uncomfortable, to own the
work we need to do within each
and every one of us.
And this is the first step
for you guys, just showing up.
So thank you for showing up.
So without-- oh.
[APPLAUSE]
Thanks, Ron.
[CHUCKLING]
And so, without
much further ado,
this is our final screening.
It's actually a
pretty sad moment
because I've been
traveling with Ron and Lucy
across the country.
Google did one of these in
Charleston, South Carolina.
We did a second one
in San Francisco
to an audience of
about 1,400 people.
And tonight is the final, first
time in New York, at that.
But it's so beautiful
to see you all here
because we've been on a
little journey, a big journey.
And Ron and Lucy have been
on a way longer journey.
So, to kind of kick off an
understanding of that journey,
let's welcome to the
stage Rahiel Tesfamariam,
founder of Urban Cusp--
[APPLAUSE]
And if you don't know about
Urban Cusp, you must find out.
Rahiel has done many things from
the "Not One Dime" campaign,
which hopefully on Black
Friday, no one shopped.
But if you did, Rahiel will
tell you why not to next year.
And, Ron and Lucy, if
you guys would also
come to the stage and--
[APPLAUSE]
So Ron and Lucy are the
parents of Jordan Davis who
have just so bravely and
boldly relived this story time
and time again to change the
hearts and minds of audience
members just like yourselves.
And so I guarantee
you I've known them
for about six months now.
And they feel like family.
And they have
challenged Googlers
the first time we met
that change starts
with each and every one of us.
And so I took that call very
seriously when they told me
the first time.
So I guarantee you you'll
fall in love with them
by the end of today.
And I just really
honor their courage
to tell this story over and
over again, despite that.
And last, but
certainly not least,
I want to make a plug for HBO.
This is our only
post-production screening,
but we had two
pre-production ones.
But, really, cool
opportunity to get this word
out even bigger than tonight
is to spread the word
and get HBO if
you don't have it.
And you can watch this film on
HBO, and all streaming devices,
and channels, as well.
So, without further ado, I'll
turn it over to you guys.
RAHIEL TESFAMARIAM: Thank
you so much, Chelsea.
This is a wonderful
opportunity for me
because I first saw the film
when Sue Patel showed it
to me at a private screening.
We were in director's chairs.
And, being in a
huge, empty room,
just crying my way through
the whole entire film.
And, at that time, there
was no clear direction
about what was going to happen.
There was no HBO deal.
It had not yet been
screened at Sundance.
We were having discussions
about using Urban Cusp
platform to screen it.
And it was a very
grassroots discussion.
And now to kind of see what
has happened with this film,
to see that it has
aired on HBO, to see
that it is on the short
list of Oscar nominations--
I don't know if you
all knew that-- it
is such a powerful
testament to what
can be done with very little
when there is a will, when
there is a desire, when
there is a clear purpose,
and absolutely
with the strength,
and resilience, and tenacity
of Jordan's parents.
So I want to just personally
thank them for the example
that they have set
for so many people.
I've traveled, actually,
all over with them
in different capacities
from Aspen to Memphis.
We've been all over the country.
And every single time, they
have the whole room in tears.
They have people
completely inspired, eager
to figure out what's next.
And I think that
they always leave you
with a sense of if they can
do this, then I have no excuse
because they just move
with absolute resolve
and conviction.
And I just want to thank you
for who you are and especially
at this moment in time.
So, speaking to the
one year anniversary
of Sandy Hook, everything that's
happening in this country,
the discussion that we're
having about gun laws,
and the discussion that we're
having about police brutality,
this is such a timely film in
the context of all of that.
And this is-- sorry.
I'm recovering from a cold-- but
this is particularly the work
that you're doing in
terms of gun legislation.
Can you speak to
that a little bit?
LUCY MCBATH: Oh.
Thank you so much.
And, once again, thank
you so much for inviting
us to be here this evening.
We're so excited.
Yes, definitely so.
I stay extremely busy
running from state to state
and testifying across the
country on the opposition
of the expansion of all of
the gun laws in the country,
talking to our legislators,
and talking to civic leaders,
and talking to academia,
talking to other grassroots
organizations trying
to begin building
coalitions of other grassroots
organizations and individuals
that are concerned about what's
happening in the country.
Believe it or not--
of course, we already
know that in the
urban communities,
this violence has
always been going on.
And there have already been
established gun grassroots,
gun violence organizations
that have been doing the work.
So now my job is, as a national
spokesperson for Everytown
for gun safety and also their
faith and community outreach
leader, I go into
these communities.
And I try to graph them into the
national work of gun violence
prevention-- also within the
faith community, as well.
So, as we say, we've become
the accidental activists.
Neither one of us
would ever have
imagined that we would be doing
this work, called to this work.
But it is so relevant
for the time.
It's so sorely needed.
And this is what we
spend our time doing
trying to encourage and engage
individuals and organizations
in gun violence prevention
in the faith community
and diverse communities.
RAHIEL TESFAMARIAM: And
so you can follow up
on urbancusp.com We just
released an article today
written by [INAUDIBLE] Lucy.
And the article kind of
speaks to America's claim
to be this land of faith,
this place where we are driven
by faith and love
of God's people,
and how our legislation, our
policies, the racism that
is enlivened in this
country at this moment
is actually absolutely
contrary to what
we say we are as a nation.
So there's a very
powerful piece that I
encourage you to check out.
And I believe when the surveys
go out about the event,
Chelsea will be sure to
send a link to the article.
So, Uncle Ron--
RON DAVIS: [CHUCKLING]
That's my niece.
RAHIEL TESFAMARIAM:
We're family, absolutely.
I've heard you speak a lot about
your evolution and opinions
about how this film
and your experiences
kind of relate to a
larger conversation that's
happening about terrorism
and Islamophobia.
Can you speak to
some of those things?
RON DAVIS: Yes.
When you look at this
film, what we want to show
is the families.
Most of the time when you
see the major networks,
they show the shooter,
and they show the victim.
As most of the time you cannot
connect with the victim,
you just start hearing they
had alcohol in their system.
They had cocaine
in their system.
They had weed in their
system constantly victimizing
the victim all over again.
You never hear
from the families.
Every once in a while, they'll
pick a few family members
to come out and say something.
But, by in large, you don't
get the family members
to tell the story
of their child,
to tell the story
of their loved one.
That's one of the reasons why
we allow the filmmakers to come
into our home, to
come into our lives
and make this film, "3 and
1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets"
to show when you take a
valuable life-- and all lives
have value: black,
white, pink, whatever,
no matter what your religion,
all lives have value.
They have communities
that love them.
They have friends
that love them.
And they have family
that love them.
And we want to show
that in this film.
Most of the families out
here, they do not get justice.
We were one of the few families
that got complete justice.
When I say complete
justice, what I'm saying
is first degree murder,
life imprisonment,
no chance of parole.
I'm talking-- you're
not hearing me.
I'm talking first degree
murder, life imprisonment,
no chance of parole.
Most of families don't
even get an indictment.
We look in Chicago.
They paid off the
family $5 million.
Took 14 months to arrest
the guy that did something
that they know was wrong.
You shoot the first two bullets,
and the man is on the ground.
And you shoot 14 more
bullets so much so
that it's kicking up
cement off the concrete.
The mayor of the town, the city
managers, the superintendent,
they all have seen the tape.
But what do you do?
You pay the families off,
even though they didn't even
sue the city.
Now if me and you
pay somebody off?
What is it called?
Bribery?
We go to jail.
Just firing the superintendent,
you don't go to jail.
I want to hear some jail
time, all these things.
They only gave me 10 minutes,
by the way, because they
know I'm an activist.
And to give an activist
10 minutes is crazy.
But I'm going to try
to stick to that.
Getting back to
the film, though,
in "3 and 1/2 Minutes," when
Michael Dunn was at the gas
station, not only did he take
the life of my son, Jordan
Davis, but he also
took his own life
because he doesn't have
freedom any longer.
And for him to get that
mad over loud music
is really not the case.
It's domestic terrorism,
that black lives don't
matter anymore in this country.
And so that's what we have to
get back to through this film.
We're going to have a
Q and A after the film.
It's going to be hot.
We've got Linda here.
You know she's hot.
And we're going to have Mo here.
Lamumba is here.
It's going to be hot.
And so I just want to take
a part of my 10 minutes also
to recognize that we have
Trayvon Martin's brother,
Jahavaris here.
Stand up, Jahavaris.
I know you shy.
RAHIEL TESFAMARIAM:
Come on, Jahavaris.
RON DAVIS: Trayvon's
brother right here.
And I'm so glad to see him.
We were together in
Geneva, Switzerland.
We had a great
five days together.
We hung out and got to
talk about everything
but our situation.
So we got to know each other.
And he's a great young man.
And our picture of
Jordan, maybe he
could have been
working for Google.
So it's a
heartbreaking situation
to see all you
great-looking young people
with these great jobs at Google.
And I think of Jordan and
what he could have done had he
lived to be past 17 years old.
And I want to thank
HBO, and I want
to thank Participant
Media, and also Google.
Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
RAHIEL TESFAMARIAM: So,
before we go into the film,
I'm glad you
acknowledged Jahavaris.
I think one of the
things that happens
when you get to know individuals
connected to victims,
you often feel that
their spirit lives on
through the family member.
So I feel that sometimes I
get a glimpse of what Trayvon
would have been like through
my interactions with Jahavaris.
And I've always kind
of come to understand
Jordan as a younger brother
in interacting with you all.
But not everyone kind of gets
those intimate experiences
where they can talk to you
and learn about that loved one
through you.
So can you share a
little bit about what
you would want this audience
to know about your son
that maybe they may
not get from the movie,
but you want them to know.
LUCY MCBATH: Of
course, in the movie,
you don't really get a chance
to know much about Jordan
until the very end.
And so there's
always the back story
that you don't know
about, the back story
about where he was raised, and
all the friends that he had,
and how he was raised.
He was home-schooled
for many, many years.
He was raised in church,
good strong foundation,
spiritual upbringing,
loved by many, many people.
Jordan, unlike his father,
never knew a stranger.
Made friends very, very easily.
And, in each one
of his friends, I
could definitely
identify something
that Jordan was
able to relate to.
Jordan had a very big
compassionate heart.
Jordan was always
the kind of kid
that he wanted everybody
to have the same.
He wanted everybody to have
the same opportunities.
He wanted everyone to be
educated on the same level.
He was always a champion
for the underdog.
And so those are
the things that you
don't get to know
about Jordan that we
love about Jordan that we
continue to embrace because we
have to embrace those memories
because we don't physically
have him here anymore.
You know, Jordan was just
the life of the party.
Even his friend said whenever
Jordan walked in the room,
there was a light.
And he was always trying
to make you laugh.
He had a great
sense of sensitivity
and a great sense of
spiritual understanding.
We used to have deep discussions
in my kitchen and in the car
when he was riding next to me.
And I would often
say, Jordan, how
do you know some of the things
that you profess to know?
And he'd say, I don't know, Mom.
I just know, just very
intuitive, very, very wise
beyond his years.
But there again, I always
prayed that the Lord
would give our child tremendous
strength, and wisdom,
and understanding.
And so he did end up
being all of those things
and just a lover of people.
And I used to always
say I think you're
going to be a social activist.
I see you bringing
people together.
I see you championing
for a cause.
And, actually, yes, he is.
RAHIEL TESFAMARIAM:
Thank you so much.
We're going to-- oh.
Would you like to speak to that?
RON DAVIS: Yeah,
I just want to say
that understand that when you
have dealings with your parents
if you're a young person here,
and the older people that
have children, one thing
I always thank God for
is the last words that
you say to your loved one
before they die.
Think about that because
whether it's good or bad,
you have to live with that
for the rest of your life.
And Jordan was going to
the mall on Black Friday.
And he asked me for some money
to go with his friend shopping.
And I gave him some money.
And I hugged him.
And I told him that
I'd see him after work
and that I'd see
him when I got home.
And those are the last
words that was between us,
the last smile that
was between us.
And I thank God for that
because sometimes we
argue with our children or are
you argue with your parents.
Just think if that
was the last word
you had with your loved ones.
So when you go home
today, tonight,
and during the holidays, and
you're with your loved ones,
make sure those-- you
never know-- last words are
great words, that love
is said between you,
that all the things that are
little, minute new things,
especially during the holidays.
People have a sense of
this heightened things
going during the holiday.
That's why people argue a
lot during the holidays.
People want to come
to certain homes,
and they don't get there because
of certain things like traffic
or whatever the case may be.
And it's always the good and
the bad during the holidays.
That's why there's so many
suicides during the holidays.
So, after this film, I
want you to really look
at how parents fight like
me and Lucy fought as hard
as we could for Jordan.
And I want you to fight
for your loved ones,
for your parents, and for your
sisters, and your brothers.
Fight hard for them
because you never
know the next day whether
they're going to be around.
See, we assume that
we're going to see them.
We get on the phone,
and we say, OK.
We'll see you tomorrow.
And we really believe
that, don't we?
We believe that.
But God has another plan.
And I get on my knees, and
I thank God every night
that God gave me 17 years of
Jordan Davis, gave me 17 years.
And that's all I'm
supposed to have.
I have to sleep at night
and understand I was only
supposed to have 17 years.
And that is what I got.
That's what I received.
So every day in my life, I say
I'm one day closer to Jordan
because I want to get
there where Jordan is.
Thank you.
So, in conclusion, we
did mention that Jordan
was killed on Black Friday.
And so Black Friday
recently passed--
but one of the inspirations
behind the "Not One Dime"
boycott-- is because so many of
the victims of police brutality
were killed exactly around
this holiday season,
be it Black Friday, Christmas,
the one-year non-indictment,
and Eric Garner's
murder, as well
as the one-year non-indictment
in the Ferguson decision.
And so, beyond this
season every year,
I ask people to kind of
use this holiday season
as economic resistance to these
incidence of racism and police
brutality.
So honor the memory
of Jordan Davis
and victims of police
brutality by resisting
a capitalist system that
does not bring justice
when justice is due.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
TORRENCE BOONE: Good
evening, everyone.
Again, Torrence Boone--
I'm a senior leader
here in the global business
organization at Google
based in New York and
on behalf of Google.
I want to thank you all for
coming this evening for carving
out time to speak with
us, spend time with us,
and discuss a set of incredibly
important issues for us
as a collective society.
So we're going to dive in.
If I could get the
panel to come on
stage, and I will do
quick introductions.
All of you have
more detailed bios
that were handed out as part
of the registration process.
So I'm going to do
quick one-liners,
and then we'll get into
the meat of the discussion.
Thank you.
Hi.
[APPLAUSE]
OK.
So, to my right here, we
have Mo Meltzer-Cohen.
And Mo is a criminal
defense attorney
and teaches criminal
law at Hunter College.
And next to Mo, we
have Linda Sarsour
who is co-founder of
MPOWER, and she's also
the national advocacy
director for the National
Network for African
American communities.
And she also serves
locally as the director
of the Arab American
Association of New York, which
is a social service
agency serving
the Arab community in New York.
You met Ron and
Lucy earlier today.
And, next to Lucy,
Lumumba Bandele
who is the senior community
organizer in the NAACP Legal
Defense Fund, their
criminal justice practice.
Again, a warm welcome
for our panelists.
[APPLAUSE]
So I'm going to go a
little bit off script, not
that we were at all scripted.
But, as I was packing up my
office to come to the event
tonight-- and some of you may
have seen that it was just
announced today-- that in my
native Baltimore a mistrial was
declared in--
[BOOING]
--in the case against William
Porter, the police officer who
was accused of
involuntary manslaughter,
second degree assault
against Freddie Gray.
I think probably everyone has
the context of that situation.
But, in case not because,
unfortunately, there
have been so many issues
and so many incidents
that it starts to
blend together.
But Freddie Gray was
abducted by a group
of police officers in
Baltimore after an altercation.
He was handcuffed, put
in the back of a van.
The van drove around Baltimore
for about 40 minutes,
six stops along the way.
And, during that
time, Freddie Gray
suffered a broken neck
and other bodily injuries
that resulted in his death.
So I thought, given
this late-breaking news
in the backdrop of the
powerful story that we just
heard about Jordan, I
would start with the panel
to get their perspective on this
outcome to frame this outcome
today in the greater scheme
of what we all just witnessed
in the film and to kick us
off with the implications
of that mistrial judgment
for our discussion tonight.
And, perhaps, Ron and Lucy
could provide their thoughts
as a kickoff.
RON DAVIS: Well, it's all right
to be uncomfortable tonight,
right?
Is it all right?
We can tell truth tonight?
OK.
First of all, the
system itself is unjust,
but it's rigged to be unjust.
It covers its own behind.
I can say ass in
this room, right?
It covers their
own ass, you know.
And so when you look at a system
where the prosecutors have
a symbiotic relationship
with the police department,
they close many of their
cases with this same police
department.
So they're on a
friendly basis, and they
uplift the police
when they testify
against other defendants.
So I cannot uplift the policemen
and then tear them down later
on when he commits an act such
as what happened with Freddie
Gray because I've held
him up to a standard,
and then I've closed 12,
13 cases with him or her.
And then, all of a sudden
now, if I tear him down,
we have to go back and
re-look at all those cases
that we closed by saying
this is an upstanding cop.
So you have to understand
that the system itself--
now the city managers
that worry about lawsuits
against the city-- who are
they going to stand with?
The police department.
So the state
attorney is supposed
to be the victim's advocate
because you understand
in this legal
system that we have,
a defendant can get the best
defense that money can buy.
Am I correct?
Best defense that money can buy.
If you're a
multi-millionaire, you
can get a multimillion
dollar team of attorneys.
But think about the
victim's family in our case.
You are represented by the
prosecutor in that county.
You don't have a choice.
You can be a billionaire.
You don't have a choice.
You have to be represented.
If the prosecutor
is a knucklehead,
if the prosecutor is a
friend of the police,
if the prosecutor is
a friend of the court,
the prosecutor is a
friend of the city clerk,
and he knows if he
prosecute this policeman,
he may have the police end
up having to pay $5 million,
like in Chicago to the
families, $10 million,
the Garner family, all this.
So they have invested reason
to acquit the police department
when there's wrongdoing.
The only reason
I still say today
that we got justice
in Jordan Davis case
is because he was not
shot by a policeman.
That is the only
reason we got justice.
Had it been a policeman,
that prosecuter--
the same one that let
George Zimmerman get away
with murder-- is the same
prosecutor that we had here.
And they would have let
him get away with murder,
also, if he was a policeman.
So we have to
change that system.
The system is unjust.
It can't defend itself.
It can't-- I would say go
outside of that jurisdiction,
and get somebody else, and
bring in a separate prosecutor
whenever there's a police
shooting because they cannot
prosecute themselves at all.
We see it time and time again.
Tamir Rice case, we
see it time and time--
in Tamir Rice case even said
that this particular police
officer had been kicked out
of another police department,
told him that he was
unfit to be a policeman.
And he still was hired by
another department in Cleveland
and, within two seconds,
shoots a 12 year old
when they have to report
that this was a play gun.
So we see that time
and time again.
And the only way to
change it is to make sure
that you get outside
representation for the victim's
family and the victim and
not use the prosecutor
in the same jurisdiction.
TORRENCE BOONE: Lucy.
LUCY MCBATH: And
once again, we see
this as another example of just
horrible, horrible behavior
that continues to happen
within our police force
against people of color,
people in our communities.
But I will say this, is that we
talk a great deal as a people.
We talk a great deal
about how bad it is
and what's happening
out there, but we're not
doing anything about it.
I will say is that, yeah.
We rally in the streets.
Yes, we do all those
kinds of things.
But to make the system's
accountable to us,
to protecting us,
and our rights,
and our freedoms
in this country,
we have to be part
of the solution.
And that goes beyond rallying,
and it goes beyond praying.
We need to be there talking
to the Chief Justices.
We need to be there
talking to our legislators.
We need to be there
in those systems that
continue to extend
this kind of behavior
towards people of color.
We need to make
them accountable.
It's not going to be enough to
rally in the street about it.
It's not going to be enough to
talk about how horrible it is
and wait until the
next atrocity happens.
If we are not in their
voting out the justices,
and all of the
lawyers, and the people
that we put in place that
allow these kinds of things
to happen, then all we're
going to do is talk about it.
And all we'll
continue to do is talk
about the next time it
happens, and the next time
it happens, and gather, and talk
about it behind closed doors.
So we have to be accountable
as a community of minorities,
as a community in
urban communities,
we have to be accountable
for making the change happen.
We have to pressure the powers
that be to make these changes.
We have to let them know that
they are accountable to us,
and we will take
them out of office.
When you go to the polls--
when you go, and you're
voting for your local and civil
leaders at the local level,
this is where all
of this happens.
This is where all
of this happens.
You have a responsibility
to go to the polls
and to scream loudly and
clearly about what's happening.
And if you don't, shame on you.
TORRENCE BOONE: Lumumba,
you were in Ferguson.
You've spent your career
working in New York
City on community activism.
What are some of the big
lessons in the context
of the discussion so far that
you would offer up things
that you do in your community
work that could address
some of these issues?
LUMUMBA AKINWOLE-BANDELE:
Well, before I
get to some of the tools, I want
to sort of add another insult
onto what we're
doing right now, what
we're talking about right now.
As we hear about the
mistrial in Baltimore,
we also got word
that Kenneth Boss,
one of the cops responsible for
the murder of Amadou Diallo,
is just set to get a promotion
in the NYPD tomorrow.
So I want to add that to really
underscore what both Mrs.
McBath and Mr. Davis have said.
We've been down this
road so many times.
And we have to recognize the
tools we have in our toolbox.
Voting is one tool.
It's an effective tool.
If that is the tool that
you use, that you all
have sharpened, that
you've mastered,
that also means that you
have another tool directly
connected to that.
And that is to exist and have
a strong presence in the jury.
We have a culture
of wanting to make
sure we do everything possible
to stay out of the jury box.
I got a cold.
I got to work, whatever.
If you feel that strongly
about your tool of voting,
you should have no
problem whatsoever
existing, and making
up your presence,
and developing a
culture of doing
jury takeovers to make sure
that we have different outcomes.
So that's that.
We have other tools.
If your voice is heard loud and
strong in the streets, do it.
If that's not your place,
where is your place?
How will you make
your voice heard?
But being home talking about
the young people in the streets
is not helping.
Being home talking about
all the other tools
that you consider to be
ineffective is not helping.
What's your tool?
TORRENCE BOONE: Linda.
LINDA SARSOUR: Oh.
I don't know after that.
I mean, I'm sure most
of you are probably
the same emotional space that
I'm on, but I'm really moved.
And I've been moved before
by Lucy and Uncle Ron.
I have a son who's
also 17 years old.
And just hearing the voices of
Uncle Ron and Lucy in the movie
just really touches
me deep to my core.
And it reminds me about
the value of life,
and whose life matters, and
who says whose life matters,
and whose word matters.
And I worked this past
year with a family
in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
where three young college
students, two young women who
looked just like me-- they
could've been my little
sisters, literally.
They look exactly like me.
People thought they
were related to me.
And I worked with
this family helping
them get their voice
out in the media.
They were shot execution
style by a man who
was basically a Islamophobe.
They were his neighbors.
And he literally went
into their home, shot them
in the head, each one.
One at a time, he shot them.
And the media wanted
you to believe
that a man would be so
angry, that he could shoot
three young Muslim students
execution style over a parking
spot.
We were supposed to believe
that Michael Dunn was so angry,
that he was so
scared for his life
that he was going to shoot
four teenage boys in a car.
And what this reminds
me of, our common enemy,
the word of white supremacy
against our communities
that we can walk
around in a street,
and people can snatch their
kids up from next to our kids
playing in the park because they
don't want their kids to play
with terrorists or a woman who
wants to snatch her purse when
she sees a young black man
because all black people
are criminals.
This idea of who labels
us and who are we to who,
it gives me affinity.
And that's why many folks
in this room that I know
and why I work on issues
like police brutality, which
don't necessarily directly
impact me as an individual.
But what I believe is
we live in a country
that if black life
doesn't matter,
then my life and the
life of people who look
like me is not going to matter.
And if we don't make
and force our country
to make black life matter--
for us to really believe that,
not just to say, but for it
to be real for black people--
then there's nothing
that I can do
that's going to make people
who look like me's life matter,
make me valuable, make
my children valuable.
And recently just with
our kids watching TV,
and all they hear is Muslim
terrorists, terrorists,
Muslims, everybody.
It's like the trauma that
young black kids hear when
they hear thugs and gangsters.
And what kind of message does
that send to our children?
Our children start
questioning who they are.
They're not taught
in this country
to be proud of who they are.
Our children right
now are asking
is Muslim the right choice?
Why are we even that?
There must be
something wrong here.
And I think that what
people don't understand
is the trauma that
causes young people.
And that's why our kids struggle
to succeed in this world
because they haven't
found their place.
And the institutions that
they're trying to impress
or they're trying
to prove to are
institutions that
have been created
not to accept people like them.
The system wasn't made
for people like us.
So I have a lot of
affinity to Trayvon,
to hearing the vilification
of people even when they're
dead in their corpse.
Their bodies are still warm.
And we vilifying them,
talking about what
they did two weeks
ago and six years ago.
it just really breaks my heart
that we live in a country
where we continue to do this.
TORRENCE BOONE: Mo, as the
criminal defense attorney,
a professor of
criminal law, can you
give us more context on
what's going on here?
What are the legal
drivers that are at play?
Ron mentioned the
prosecutors, that issue.
What are the other things that
drive the kind of outcomes
that we're seeing from the
criminal justice system?
And what can we do
to address them?
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN:
Just an easy one, right?
I do want to make
one small correction.
I'm not teaching
criminal law right now.
I have taught criminal law.
So I think it's really
important-- for everybody--
but I think,
particularly, for people
who have the luxury
of maintaining
this sort of delusion to stop
thinking about the police
as being an organization,
an institution that
is there to protect all people.
So the whole concept
of policing was
developed in the United States.
Policing is not an
old institution.
It's a fairly new institution.
And American policing was
developed in the United States
to protect the property
of moneyed white people
at a time when black people
were considered property.
So I think that one of
the things that's going on
is, yes, that's what the
police are there for.
Another thing that's
going on, as Ron
said, we need special
prosecutors because the way
that cases get closed is
that the police testify
against criminal defendants.
And, since the
police are the people
who are out there
selectively enforcing
laws and disproportionately
and aggressively
policing working class
communities of color,
that means that their entire
job description involves putting
poor black people in jail.
And so it becomes very
difficult for a prosecutor
to sincerely, and earnestly,
and zealously prosecute
a police officer.
So I think that call
for special prosecutors
is absolutely right.
And I really want to
second what Lumumba said.
I know that it's
almost become a running
joke about jury service.
But this is actually
an opportunity for you
to go and truly serve your
community to be a peer,
to render judgment, or to
refuse to punish someone,
to hear all that
evidence, and to really
act in the service of justice
because the law and justice are
not related to each other.
And I think that, especially
for people who have always
had the privilege of believing
that the law and justice,
that that's a Venn diagram that
has a real substantial overlap,
it's time to shed that idea.
It's time to really
acknowledge the reality
of what is happening and what
has always been happening.
I think it's a real
mistake to think
that this is a system that
started out good and got
corrupted or that this is
a system that, in some way,
can be redeemed because
it has never been intended
to serve all people equally.
I think it's really
crucial, it's
really critical for anyone
who has relative power
to be really honest
with themselves
and to be really
honest with whoever's
proximate to you,
to your communities
to work to dismantle the idea
that the law and justice,
that any well-developed
concept of justice
has really any relationship
to the American legal system.
TORRENCE BOONE: On the topic
of special prosecutors,
how does that happen?
How are special
prosecutors appointed?
What are the situations
that underpin that?
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN: I
mean, it usually happens
when there's an
egregious abuse of power.
But this actually isn't-- I'm
not sure I'm entirely qualified
to answer that question as far
as the technical aspects of it.
But I think the
central piece of why
we need special prosecutors
is that the whole logic
behind having a
special prosecutor
is that whoever is
normally the prosecutor
is too entrenched
in a system of power
that has gone horribly wrong
and where that power has been
so egregiously
abused that it's not
possible to maintain
even the appearance
of impartial justice.
RON DAVIS: It's interesting.
But when you say
who has the power?
Actually, who has the power is
the governors of the states.
You have to realize the
federal government was
created by the 13 colonies.
And they've taken back to power
from the federal government.
So that's why you see, every
time there's a mass shooting,
President Obama looks like
he's just swallowed an egg.
Because every time
he puts out something
to discourage shooters, even
in the no fly zone-- anything
that he puts out that says,
well, if they're on the no fly
list, then we should
make sure that they
don't get a chance to get guns.
And he shakes his
head because he
knows if he tries to
pass it through Congress,
and he tries to pass it through
the Senate, they won't pass it.
But, see, when I say power,
the governor of Connecticut
decided, you know what?
If you come into Connecticut,
and you're on the no fly list,
you cannot get a gun or
bring a gun in the state
of Connecticut.
So the governors do
have the power to do it.
And he made an executive order
to be effective immediately.
See?
So the governors of each state
can actually take action.
LUMUMBA AKINWOLE-BANDELE:
If I can,
I want to give a
little history about,
at least in New York,
the call for-- which
was originally
independent prosecutors.
In '95, many of us were
doing this work in response
to the killing of Anthony Baez
who was murdered Christmas
Day by Officer Francis Livoti.
And we decided that
we needed to stop
this pattern of
continuously trying
to go to DAs to get
justice when we recognized
for decades that this was a
pattern that was not happening.
We recognized that there
was a significant conflict
of interest that Mr. Davis
clearly explained that does not
allow the prosecutors
to be objective
in any way in terms
of investigation
and certainly not prosecution.
And so the call
from the community,
particularly the
parents at that time,
was for an
independent prosecutor
that did not have any
attachment to the state.
Now people have said, well,
what does that look like?
Will, I mean, it hasn't
manifested itself
in any real way other
than a state attorney
general taking it over.
And that's where the term
special prosecutor came in.
And so, even with
the executive order
that was passed here in New
York State earlier this year,
that was done based
on decades of pushing.
When people told us in
'95, that's impossible.
That will never happen.
People told us earlier this
year, told their parents
the state attorney general and
the governor hate each other.
There's no way in
the world they'll
come to an agreement for
this to actually happen.
But it wasn't until those
parents stood with people
in the streets, stood
with elected officials,
said this is not
even negotiable.
It's going to happen,
that it actually happened.
It's not perfect.
In fact, the governor's
playing with words
trying to make it sound
like it's temporary.
But it's not exactly
what we want.
But it is a step in
the right direction.
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN:
We're going to open it up
in just a few minutes for
questions from the audience.
We want to make
sure that we address
any questions that you have.
So if you want to step to
the mics, please do that.
Just to continue the dialogue
around what we can actually do.
I mean, here at Google, we are
incredibly action oriented.
We have a mission around
making the world a better
place, changing the world for
the better, through technology,
through our community of team
members around the world.
And, I guess, my sort of last
question before we open it up
would be what do
you think we can
do as Google from an
individual perspective,
from a corporate perspective
to push this more
aggressive agenda and
address the issues
of criminal injustice that
we've been talking about?
LINDA SARSOUR: I mean, for me,
one of things that I really
focus on is intersectionality.
How do we tell
each other stories?
How do we got each other's
back when we're not
in each other's rooms?
And I think that's
really important.
I want to be the
first person to defend
a young black unarmed kid
that's shot by the police.
And I want black people--
which this already
happens because I've
been working in building
relationships-- when
they hear someone say
we've got to lock
the Muslims up,
or we don't want them here,
that you're the first person
to be like wait.
Chill.
That's not cool.
So I think what I always
tell people is ask questions.
You might have a friend
at Google who is Muslim.
Have a conversation.
Check them out.
Be like, hey, I'd
love to see you
at the cafeteria
for a few minutes.
I want to ask you some stuff.
I think a lot of times
we're so apprehensive to ask
people and kind of
find out who they are.
They're not just the
Google executive.
They're not just the
little programmer.
They're actually a person.
And they have a family.
They have aspirations.
They have dreams.
They have the kind of
music that they like.
And I think,
oftentimes, we don't
see each other in that way.
And I think the best
relationships that I have,
and the best activism
work, the best movement
work that I've done is when
I'm at somebody's house,
or when I went to
a movie with them,
or when I went to chill
with them after a rally,
and just hung out in a
park, and sat on a bench,
and heard about their kid
and what happened last week.
And I think, oftentimes,
we're so up here trying
to be all we're social justice.
We're going to bring
justice to the world.
But really the times
where I've felt
the most meaningful
moments for me
was when I heard about
somebody's brother who
got shot.
And I got to hear
that story personally.
Or someone who's father
got deported just
for simply not having papers.
I think those are the most
meaningful moments of just
being able to see people
for who they are as human
and kind of shed off
all that extra stuff,
and just kind of hear
that-- just from the heart,
I think that's really the most
moving thing that has helped
me believe that there is
still hope in the world, even
through all the
darkness that we see.
LUMUMBA
AKINWOLE-BANDELE: I would
add that I was trained
as an organizer
to when you want to Impact an
issue, the first question you
ask yourself is what
is my individual
and collective relationship
to that issue or those issues?
Google is the platform
of the earth right now.
You actually have the ability
to tell the story in a way
that impacts the world
and how they see us,
how they see our experiences.
So I think being
able to highlight
other independent media
is extremely important so
that people are not relying
solely on CNN, on NBC, on Fox.
But being able to allow
independent media that
comes from us, that
actually shares our values,
and actually tells our stories
the way they need to be told
is extremely significant.
And then some of
the small things
you do, like them
little configurations
you have on the
Google thing when
you do stuff like on
Black History Month,
those things are
really impactful.
I think those are important.
So those things like that,
I think, go a long way.
Being able to allow people
to have access to the source
is extremely important.
RON DAVIS: And everything
is money-driven.
Be encouraged by what happened
at the University in Missouri,
I believe it was, what
the football team did.
Be encouraged.
These young people put their
careers on the line and say,
"we're not going to play a
football game until we get rid
of this racism."
So be encouraged by
that as young people.
And when I've attended
YouTube and Black Googlers,
they tell me that
the YouTube channel,
you can reach 12 million people
across the country at one time.
Look at that power
that you have.
Understand the power that you
have in this room, the power
you have in these buildings.
And so, I would say,
follow the money.
Do like ALEC.
ALEC is an organization
that the NRA uses.
And they are
basically lobbyists.
And they go all
across the country.
And they take these congress
men, and women, and senators
on these junkets and all that.
And they teach them to vote
the way they want them to vote.
But we have to be
better than ALEC.
We have to be a group.
Googlers have to be a group.
YouTubers have to be a group.
And you have to
contact these senators
and contact, like you
say, these congresspeople.
And you have to see
what side are they on?
And if they're not on the
side of righteousness,
if they're not on
the side of truth,
Google them out of office.
[LAUGHTER]
YouTube them out of office.
You have the power to do that.
Sometimes we have power, we
don't realize how much we have.
You say when I'm just an
individual, how much can I do?
But look at all the
individuals you know.
Look at all the Facebook
people you know.
Look at all the people that you
get on your YouTube channel.
On Jordan Davis, we started
a Rest in Peace, Jordan Davis
page.
And, within about
three or four weeks,
we had over 220,000
people on that page.
And we're just a family.
You guys have a
nation to deal with.
You can Google
yourself to death.
So I say you have
a lot of power.
Use that power to
take money away
from people that are not
thinking like you, that are not
thinking about truth.
And the other people that
are thinking like you,
and thinking about truth, and
trying to do the right thing
but don't have the backing of
the people in the mainstream
media, use your Google power.
Use your YouTube power,
and uplift these people,
and get them in office.
LUCY MCBATH: And when you
want to know something,
what do you do?
You Google it.
Exactly.
So use the resources
that you have.
And, also, I always
say that our people do
perish for lack of knowledge.
So use the tools as
they're talking about.
Google information.
Make it available to
your constituents.
Make it available to
organizations that
are collaborating with you.
Make information
available to them
as to how they can
be actively involved.
If there's something that you
are creating within Google,
within this organization, make
it available and assessable.
Use your tools.
Information,
education is the key.
TORRENCE BOONE: Mo,
any other thoughts?
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN: I
would second everything
that has just been said.
I would also add
that, for some of us,
maybe the most valuable
thing we have to offer
is not actually money because
not all of us are Googlers.
We don't all have
this kind of platform.
And probably not everyone
in this room does.
But you have other really
valuable things to offer.
And I just want to
get a quick check.
Who was moved by the
movie you just watched?
Yeah.
OK.
So remember how
important culture is.
Ask people, engage with
people, interact with people.
But, also, some of this
work-- OK, white people, I'm
talking to you.
[LAUGHTER]
White people, some of
this is just on us.
De-center yourself.
Go home.
Don't make people do
emotional labor for you.
Don't make people educate you.
Go home.
Read bell hooks.
There's like PDF
roundups on the internet.
[APPLAUSE]
You don't have to get
all academic about it.
Go read all the Octavia Butler.
Go read all the Nalo Hopkinson.
You can enter into a
relationship with culture
and educate yourself.
You will never understand what
it means to be a black woman.
And that's OK.
But you need to
reeducate yourself, so
that you can learn to see
what the universe looks
like from the point of
view of a black woman,
from specific black women
who are writing about it.
You need to reeducate
yourself, refine your mind,
exercise your
social imagination.
And go home and do that
work at home by yourself.
Ask questions.
But, also, take
it upon yourself.
You will be a better
person all the time.
You guys have a saying, right?
"Google, don't be evil."
TORRENCE BOONE: Right.
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN:
Don't be evil.
[LAUGHTER]
TORRENCE BOONE: First question.
AUDIENCE: I want to thank
Jordan's parents for being here
and for sharing your
story and Jordan's story.
I knew the story
already, but it was just
really powerful to
sit through that
and get a feel for what that
process was like for you.
So thank you for that.
My question is I was struck
in the documentary about just
the lack of humanity
that Michael Dunn had.
I mean, to the very
end, seeing himself
fully as a victim really
struck me as very twisted.
And it made me wonder, since
he has this lack of humanity,
this complete lack of ability
to relate to a Jordan Davis, who
is in that courtroom besides
his family and loved ones
who can relate to him?
You talked already about
special prosecutors.
I know that what you're
trying to change is not easy.
Another angle that
I'm wondering,
and I'd like to hear
your opinion about is
I believe it's something like
95% of all elected prosecutors
are white.
And I think even the majority
of them are white men.
And I'm wondering if
you think that having
more diversity in
those elected positions
would even be helpful.
Thank you.
LUCY MCBATH: Absolutely.
If we go to the polls.
Let's be very simple.
I mean, let's be very
clear about this.
Most of us will go to the
polls for federal elections.
We're voting for presidents.
But we're not voting on
the state and local level
where all of these individuals
are being placed in office.
So, if we're not voting, then
we're not using our voice.
If we're not using our voice,
there is no effective change.
RON DAVIS: And you
can see change.
I can't remember the
name of the judge.
It's somewhere in the South.
But, anyway, this
judge recently,
within the last two months,
had a case where this black man
was with the defendant.
And so the prosecutors
in these cases,
they all have 10 strikes.
And, more times than not,
they use all the strikes
against African Americans.
Sometimes you look
at these juries,
you say, well, how come
it's an all white jury?
How come there's only one
black person on the jury?
Well, if a prosecutor
looks at that,
and the defense attorney
says, you know what?
I'm going to get
this guy prosecuted.
I'm going to get this
guy to go to prison.
I'm going to use all my
strikes on black people.
And, as long as it's not
racially given to the judge,
and he uses all the
excuses in the world--
do you know anybody that
ever been in prison?
Uncle Leroy, has
he been in prison?
Has Choo Choo been in prison?
All these things to
bamboozle the judge.
But they get those strikes.
And that's why, in the
Trayvon Martin case,
you had basically
an all white jury.
In our case, out of 12
people, there were two black.
These are things-- we sit there.
As parents, we
watch these strikes.
We attended it.
They kept striking,
striking, striking.
They used 98.9% of their strikes
against African Americans.
So sometimes it's not us not
trying to get on the jury.
They won't let us on the jury.
LUCY MCBATH: I'm sorry.
But, even to your point
before, this was something
that we were very
disheartened by
is that, in both
jury selections,
we sat through those
jury selections.
And our people did everything
they could to not be on our--
RON DAVIS: Well,
they tell the truth.
See, what happens
is, when you're
in court, African
Americans-- you go in,
and you start telling the truth.
Sometimes that gets you off
the jury, telling the truth.
Have you heard anything
about the case?
Yeah.
I was at my mama's house,
and I heard about it.
Strike.
White people, a lot of times,
they want to be on the jury.
And they lie that they-- no, no.
I was up in the hills
in Montana, never
heard anything
about Jordan Davis.
They want to get on the jury.
So we have to think about that.
Sometimes maybe you have to
tell that little white lie
to get on the jury.
Don't be so honest.
I see a lot of honest
people get off the jury.
But this African American
judge-- going back to that--
is that he did
make a difference.
With this all white jury, and
with this black defendant,
he actually stepped up
and said, you know what?
I'm going take a
recess, and I'm going
to dismiss the jury,
he said, because I
don't believe this young
man is getting a fair trial.
So if you Google that,
this happened recently.
And he wanted to
empanel another jury
that was fairly representing of
that city and of that county.
So, yeah.
It does make a difference if
we can have a lot of jurors
do that and have a lot of
judges do that, I mean.
LINDA SARSOUR: Can I
just add one quick thing?
TORRENCE BOONE: Yeah, yeah.
Sure.
LINDA SARSOUR: Michael Dunn
was engaging, displaying
straight white supremacy.
He wasn't acting like a victim.
He straight believed
that, as a white man,
he could pull out a gun,
and shoot some black kids,
and nothing was going
to happen to him.
And this is the problem
that we have in this country
that immediately when
a white person shoots
a person of color, we start
being like he twisted.
He crazy.
I don't know what he did.
He was mad at his wife.
And we try to make all
these excuses for them.
They believe they can do this.
A white police
officer believes he's
going to shoot a
black unarmed kid
and get away with it because
he's going to get away with it.
So sometimes we
internalize that.
But when I was listening
to Michael Dunn,
I was listening to white
supremacy, straight-up.
That's exactly what it is.
So I feel like we need to call
it that every time, every time.
White supremacy is the common
enemy up here for all of us
when we look at people talking
about deporting immigrants,
killing unarmed kids
and justifying it,
whether it's white males killing
black teenagers because they're
listening to loud music like
we hear every day in Brooklyn,
this is white supremacy,
sisters and brothers.
And we've got to
just keep calling it
that every single day.
RON DAVIS: And it's
domestic terrorism.
LINDA SARSOUR:
Domestic terrorism.
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN: And I would
like to just add to that, also,
to complicate this a little bit.
In your situation,
the white supremacist
was the criminal defendant.
And that's actually
fairly unusual.
Usually the white supremacist is
the prosecutor side, the police
system.
And so I think that, Linda,
what you just said really
helps to clarify.
It's not that we're anti-defense
attorney or anti-prosecutor.
It's that this
system, as adversarial
as it is said to be, is simply
one face of white supremacy.
And I do think it's important
for all of us, and especially
white people, to
get real and start
calling it white supremacy.
TORRENCE BOONE: Yep.
LUMUMBA AKINWOLE-BANDELE: And
I'll just add really quickly
to answer your question.
We've said the same thing about
diversifying racially police
forces.
And we've recognized that it
has significant limitations.
And so black prosecutors
will probably
help in some manner
on some level.
But until we actually address
the full systemic issues
with the prosecution and the
criminalization of black folks,
black folks will continue just
to provide that same function
in that particular system.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
TORRENCE BOONE: Yes?
AUDIENCE: Hi.
My name is Stephanie.
I'm a drug policy activist, as
well as a former Google student
ambassador.
I guess my question is,
Ron mentioned earlier
before the movie started how
oftentimes the media victimizes
the victims for having
drugs in their system,
whether it be alcohol, marijuana
as we saw in the Michael Brown
case.
One, how is this movement,
Black Lives Matters as well as
the work that you do,
I guess, talking
about these issues,
about drugs, especially in
light of marijuana legalization
happening at a
nation scale coupled
with capitalism that is
entering as the industry that
is growing?
And then, following that
question, all of you
have mentioned being
part of the system,
whether it's being in your
elected officials office,
whether it's being on jury duty.
How do you ensure that
you are within the system
but, at the same time, not
co-opted by the system?
RON DAVIS: When I look at--
I think about Muhammad Ali,
what he said years
ago-- he said why
do you think they call it dope?
You're a dope if that's
what you do because they use
that to justify your murder.
They justify your value to the
world if you're a dopehead.
I can kill him.
Michael Dunn, what did he say?
He says, well, if I
didn't kill Jordan,
maybe he could have
killed somebody else,
so I'm doing a public service.
Do you understand
what that means?
That means that Jordan's life
didn't matter regardless,
whether he had a shotgun,
a pipe, or whatever.
It's just his life didn't
matter to a white supremest,
to a domestic terrorist.
And so when you look at
the aggravated part of it
because the first thing they're
going to do is a toxicology
and find out what you
had in your system,
not what the shooter
had in his system.
Never find out-- Walter Scott
was shot in the back six times.
They didn't find out what he
had in his system to this day,
but Walter Scott had a
little alcohol in his system,
had a little Cocaine, about as
much as Leon Spinks would take,
a little bit.
But they never say that.
And so I tell people it
doesn't devalue your life
if you have something
in your system.
It's never a case that you
should be shot at, killed,
whatever the case may
be, and we sit up here
and let them narrate the
story of why you were killed.
I don't care.
The biggest dopehead on the
street deserves to live.
So that's an excuse to kill.
But that's the excuse that
they make why we killed them.
And so when you look at
situations like Mr. Daniel
Holtzclaw in Oklahoma
City that decides
I'm going to go in
a drug infested area
and start raping
black prostitutes
and start sodomizing black
drug users because guess what?
Their life don't matter.
AUDIENCE: Right.
RON DAVIS: Nobody's going
to believe them because they
have drugs in their system.
But you know what?
Daniel, you're wrong.
AUDIENCE: That's right.
LINDA SARSOUR: Yep.
RON DAVIS: Convicted of
raping and sodomizing
13 African American women
in Oklahoma City, guilty
as charged.
So you can affect change.
And I think change is coming.
And I say, unlike the
old women in the church,
they say wait for change.
I say go get change.
Go get change.
LUMUMBA AKINWOLE-BANDELE:
I'm sorry.
If I can, really quickly,
your last comment
about how do you
interact with the system
without becoming--
the language I chose
is very specific in attention
when I talked about your tools.
And I'm going to take my
LDF hat off for a minute
because I can't represent them
with what I'm about to say.
We are at war.
We are at war.
And we need to be
very clear about how
we engage in this warfare.
One particular strategy is
not going to win the war.
We have to look at every single
mechanism we have available.
Look at your tool.
Master your tool.
Engage in it.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Good evening.
My name is Morgan.
First of all, I wanted to
thank Jordan Davis's parents
for coming out and having the
strength and courage to share
your story with us.
Secondly, my question is
about a call to action.
I was wondering-- you guys
mentioned certain strategies
that we should take as people
to fight this injustice,
fight this social injustice.
But, as a young
person, I constantly
find myself sort of helpless
in figuring out what to do.
I just graduated college,
and they educate us
all about the system.
And they tell us call a spade
a spade, blah, blah blah.
I know the system in and
out, but I'm not really
sure what to do about it.
And so I was wondering
if you could--
I know you guys briefly
touched on some of the things
that you suggested
for calls to action.
But, as a young person, what are
you guys looking for us to do?
I know, personally, my
career path does not
involve law or anything.
But that does not take
away from my passion
for fighting this injustice.
LUCY MCBATH: I work for
Everytown for gun safety.
And, actually, I'm a
national spokesperson
in Community of Faith
outreach organizer for them.
And we give you lots of
tools that you can use.
And you don't have to
necessarily do what any of us
does.
And, as he said,
it takes everybody
working in their
own lane to create
the changes that we need.
But you can be
involved in campaigns
around the country, campaigns
for gun violence prevention,
campaigns against policing,
campaigns and rallies.
You can do those things.
You can definitely go
to the polls and vote.
You definitely have that tool.
That's extremely important.
So everytown.org, go on
that website right there,
and you can find
different ways that you
can be actively involved,
even if it's just
tweeting your legislator and
saying I'm unhappy with what's
happening in my community,
sending them Facebook posts,
even if you just want
to call your legislator.
You can do all those
kinds of things.
And, particularly, social
media is the biggest proponent
for cultural change
in this country.
And you all are experts at that.
So definitely continue
to create a movement.
You can do that.
You can be posting your
friends, and tweeting,
and talking about the
ills and everything
that you see happening
in your communities,
and in society, and
with people of color.
That's what you can do.
RON DAVIS: Some of
these online places--
I looked at a site that
I'm very familiar with,
the creator of the site,
Urban Cusp-- -C-U-S-P.
[LAUGHTER]
Very familiar with that site.
One of the good things
that she does, and I think
would help young people-- see,
I've got to give you the plug.
[LAUGHTER]
There you go.
But they have cards
and stuff, and they say
print these cards
to tell you what
to do in case you're
stopped by a cop that
may be a domestic terrorist,
a white supremest.
They have these
cards that tell you--
I even say go hand out
the cards to people
in urban areas, people that
are in poverty that may not
know what to do, and may not
know what their rights are.
Hand out the cards.
And, on the back,
have a phone number
of a lawyer in a local city
because that helps the people
because a lot of the people
get killed because they
don't know what to do.
When they see the red, blue,
and white lights, they panic.
And running can get you killed.
Running while black--
it can get you killed.
There used to be a time
in the cowboy days,
you get shot in the
back, that's wrong.
But not now.
You get shot in the
back all the time.
So, as I told Jordan in the
film when I was in the swimming
pool, protect yourself.
That will hurt me
to my dying days
that Jordan didn't
listen to his dad.
When I say protect
yourself, all occasion
doesn't call for you to be loud.
All occasion doesn't call
for you to exert your rights.
Because, at the end
of the day, Morgan,
I want you to come
home to your parents.
Do you understand what I mean?
At the end of the day, OK.
So go to those sites
and know your rights.
And you may think
you're being wrong,
but there's a forum to show
where you're being wrong.
But, at the time that
you're in the bright lights
where the person is not
wearing a hood like the KKK
but he's wearing
a badge and a gun,
you've got to let
him win that day.
But you win the fight later on
and go home to your parents.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN:
I want to add to that,
too you're not
going to-- well, I
don't want to say
you're not going
to-- but you shouldn't
expect yourself to change
the system all by yourself.
You're not alone.
And one thing that
everyone can do,
and I would encourage
you to do safely
is to film the police because
the one thing that does
seem to bring about-- too
slow, too little, too late,
but it seems to
work a little bit--
is sunshine, sunshine, sunshine.
Film those police.
AUDIENCE: It kind
of pisses them off.
MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN: It does.
Film them from a safe distance.
TORRENCE BOONE: So we're
going to try and get
in the last questions.
So why don't we go here.
AUDIENCE: Hi, everybody.
This question-- well, thank
you for Jordan Davis' parents
to come and all the way
out to the East coast.
I know it's been very
long for you guys,
but I'm going to make it very
brief and very to the point.
I'm a high school
teacher in New Jersey,
and I teach engineering.
And I have a lot
of diverse faces
in my classroom, especially
young African American boys,
and, particularly, Islamic
women, and young men.
My question is that, since
there's a lot a crimes
not only going against
African American boys,
but the huge Trump
quote about banning
Muslims, the rampant
Islamophobia,
especially with-- I
don't know if everybody's
familiar with this-- but
Ahmed Mohamed, the kid that
made a clock in Texas.
And this teacher
thought it was a bomb.
And he was arrested.
And, by the grace of God, he's
doing bigger and better things,
getting a scholarship and
meeting the president.
One thing that I have is
talk about to my students,
especially the boys of color,
and of different ethnicities,
and religions is perception.
And some of my kids come
in there with a stereo set,
pants sagging down.
And I see a lot of young ladies,
Linda, who wear the hijab.
So my question to you
guys is how important
is the discussion between us
and our youth today, especially
people of color
about perception,
about how we carry
ourselves, and how
certain people who may not be
familiar with those different
backgrounds perceive us?
And that's especially
for Ron and for Linda.
LINDA SARSOUR: I think Lumumba
was saying this earlier.
And it's a really
important point for me.
And I fight with people
all the time about this.
But I'm never going to tell a
kid to pick up his pants ever.
He can wear his pants down
to here if he wants to.
I mean, I think that
for-- and the reason why
I say that, is that for
women who wear a hijab,
it ain't like we
just wear it whenever
we feel like because
we think it's cute.
This is a part of
our religion, right?
And I'm not saying the
way you wear your pants is
part of your religion.
But if it's how you want to
do it, this is a free country.
You can wear your
pants, not wear pants.
You can do whatever you want.
And I think that if we
continue to teach our kids what
the right way to look like is,
or how high you put your pants,
and to whose standards, and
who's the audience that's
supposed to be perceiving
you, that's a problem for me
because right now, I'm hearing
young women-- people probably
see this on Facebook-- they're
putting out safety tips,
like when you're
walking in the street,
don't stand too close too
close to the train platform.
Wait until the train gets
there to get on the train.
This is United
States of America.
We're not supposed to
be walking around-- this
ain't no third world country.
So I think for our kids, this
important idea of-- you're
their role model.
You're a black man.
You're a high school teacher.
They look up to you.
And I think whatever
you're doing for them,
and just being there for them,
and letting them be, I think,
is the most important thing
that we do for our kids.
I tell my young woman all the
time-- I said, you know what?
I said, I'm going to walk out
on the streets of New York.
I'm going to look
just like this.
I'm not saying that my
safety is not at risk.
But I want to be
in a country where
I'm unapologetically who I am,
I'm unapologetically Muslim.
I want young black men to
be unapologetically black.
And I want young woman to
be unapologetic black women,
Muslim women, whatever
woman you are.
So I think we can't keep
this idea of like how to act
and how to be because
we're always telling people
to act how the white
man wants us to act.
This is just who I am.
This is how I'm going
to be every single day.
So I think just encouraging
kids, making the space for them
in your class to
be who they are.
And maybe they're not safe
outside of your classroom.
But if you're like, oh, that
hijab you're wearing today,
I love that color.
You just look good in that.
I really like that one.
When I'm walking in the streets
of New York City, and somebody
opens a door for me, and
there's a young black man that
opens the door for
me, and I walk by,
and I say thank you, brother.
That means the world to me.
You have no idea.
That very simple act
of just normal behavior
means the world to people.
And when I see a
young black man,
and I want to open
the door for him,
he looks at me like--
he just gives me
that look, that kind of like
understanding that we have
that I respected him,
that I valued who he was.
This time, I'm going to
open the door for you.
I think it's
important how we treat
our people to be valuable.
We're always looking at the
approval from the outside,
but I want my own
people to love me.
I don't care about anybody else.
I want to love me.
I want my people to love me.
I want other people to love me.
And if we love each other,
we've got each other's back,
ain't nobody can
do anything to us.
LUMUMBA AKINWOLE-BANDELE:
Let me say--
it's important for
a number of reasons
to really push back on this
idea of policing our appearance.
Number one, I think
it contributes
to the whole commercialization
of a culture,
of hip hop culture, number one.
And let's be real, also.
You probably around my age.
But we've always had a
moment in our development
where we've done some
really crazy fashion stuff.
Ya'll remember when you used
to wear your pants backwards?
You had the sneakers
with no laces.
RON DAVIS: Sure did.
LUMUMBA AKINWOLE-BANDELE:
Every generation
is going to have something.
And they are going to
grow out of it, hopefully.
The guys that's 45 years
old, they pants brought down,
they got a problem.
But no one's pants height
has ever saved their life.
It hasn't.
We have to be able
to really push back
on this whole idea of having to
fix ourselves up, and position
ourselves, and perform
in a certain way
in order to just
stay alive, in order
to be safe because we
are switching the focus.
We need to deal with the
systems that are criminalizing
our bodies, that are
criminalizing our cultures,
that make that unsafe.
RON DAVIS: And, also, I just
want to say that, first of all,
I'm going to acknowledge Jasiri
X is here, a spoken word poet.
Stand up, Jasiri.
He puts himself on
the line all the time.
He wears his X cap.
He walk out the door
right now, the police
are going to look at him.
But this young
brother, he's powerful.
I've heard him speak, and
he's always at the Left Forum
here in New York.
So come check him out.
During Memorial Day holiday,
he's always at the Left Forum.
LINDA SARSOUR:
Everybody [INAUDIBLE].
RON DAVIS: I know everybody.
I know everybody.
I give props to folks
that's working hard
against the system
in the movement.
And they say Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter is a
human rights movement.
It's not a civil
rights movement.
It's a humans right.
OK.
So let's go back to your
question, young man.
My thing is it
takes me back, when
you said that, to the '60s.
There was one point
in the '60s when
Huey P. Newton and all
the boys out in Oakland
were doing their thing.
And the brothers
got into solidarity,
and the brothers started
wearing dashikis.
You remember that?
Dashikis?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
RON DAVIS: What happened
to the dashikis?
What happened to the
Angela Davis haircuts?
What happened to all that stuff?
What happened was we exerted
ourselves, our independence.
But we were seen as militant
because we had a dashiki on.
If a woman had the
big Angela Davis Afro,
she was seen as militant.
So, with your degree, your
PhD, your master's degree, you
knock on corporate
America, they say
we don't have a job for you.
So they dumbed us down.
We became dressing
like they want
us to dress to get their job.
You don't see brothers
in Google with dashikis.
You don't see brothers in these
corporations for Coca Cola
and all that with dashikis.
You know why?
Because they want their job.
We have to get to a point
where what we dress like
pales against the knowledge
that we have, that they need us.
Whoopi Goldberg wears
her braids proudly,
but they need her on the show.
You understand?
She doesn't dumb it
down for anybody.
So we need more
people like that.
So if we get more people
like that, how we dress
won't matter because
we're still intelligent.
It has nothing to do
with our intellect.
So I say if the young men
want to wear their pants down,
that's fine.
But let them know that
they have to work twice as
hard to get that job because
that's corporate America.
That's the same America that
has the Constitution that
still, to this day, says that
we're 3/5 of a human being.
Remember what you're
working with right here.
So we still like Dred Scott.
We're not a citizen until
we become a human being.
So understand that.
So I say to you, brothers,
tell your class that, yeah.
You can be individual.
You can dress the way you like.
But keep getting that education.
Keep getting that education
because, like Albert Einstein
said, "there is always going
to be racism in America
until they become
educated and enlightened."
So you have to
continue to do that.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
TORRENCE BOONE:
Our last question.
AUDIENCE: First and foremost,
thank you for your presence.
Thank you for being here.
In the film, there
was a brief moment
where you mentioned
when you, I guess,
initially made contact
with Trayvon's parents.
And his father had said,
"welcome to the club
that no one wants to be a
part of, but you're a member."
Can you speak a little bit as
parents to that membership,
and what it has meant
for you, and in what ways
it may kind of bring
you maybe closer
to a space of healing
or just about the club?
RON DAVIS: That club
is-- that club, right?
[LAUGHS] Tracy Martin really,
for me, was one of the first
to step out there as a
father because you always
saw the mothers on CNN,
MSNBC, all the usual suspects
because the mothers
have the emotion.
They birthed the child.
And they want to
see that emotion.
And they bring the
circle of mothers up,
and you see that
time and time again.
And I sit back.
And I tell Lucy that sometimes.
I say I feel
marginalized as a father.
Fathers, sometimes we cry
in the dark, right guys?
Sometimes when things hurt
us, we don't particularly
show it when the lights are
bright because you're born,
and your parents bring you up
to be the leader of your family,
to protect your loved
ones, protect your wife,
protect your children.
So you have to be strong.
But we hurt, and we cry.
And so Tracy brought
Sean Bell's father down,
the young man that was killed
at the bachelorette party
here in New York.
William Bell came
down, his father.
Tracy brought a few
other fathers down there.
And we had about 12 fathers,
Oscar Grant's Uncle Bobby
from Oakland, California,
and got us together
and said the media is
going to marginalize you
just because they don't
think much of black fathers
to begin with.
They portray us as
either in prison,
or in control of the state
prisons, or drug addicts,
or we have 12 babies
across the country,
and we don't pay child support.
That's our MO.
And so, when they come
across fathers life
Trayvon's father,
fathers that stand up
like Uncle Bobby, fathers
all over this country that
feel just as terribly, if
not more than the mothers do,
they don't get the
platform from the media
to show and to speak about it.
And so, time and
time again, when
you go into these meetings
with these fathers, we say,
you know what?
Each time that you get
in front of a microphone,
let them know how the men
feel about what's going on.
You don't understand
the hurt that we have
when I sit on my couch when I
used to look at football games
with Jordan.
And I look at the football
games of the New York Giants,
and he's not there.
When they score a touchdown,
when Odell scores a touchdown,
I look over at the couch,
and Jordan's not there.
So much so that when I
had my Giant's jacket on,
after Jordan was
killed, the next week I
got a letter and a book from
the coach of the Giants.
And I could not believe this
letter, a handwritten letter,
from the coach of the Giants.
And so people are looking
at what you do on television
because he looked and
saw some interviews
and say "I'm very sorry that
you lost your son, Mr. Davis.
And I'm glad that
you're just not spewing
hate all across this country and
that you're not causing people
to riot in
Jacksonville" because he
used to be the coach of
the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And so Tom Coughlin didn't
want that to happen.
And so people are watching you.
Me and Lucy were invited
by President Obama
to My Brother's Keeper
initiative at the White House.
They screened, actually,
this film at the White House.
So people are watching.
And I just think that-- I
know the network of females
is strong.
Black Lives Matter is led
by females, Alicia Garza,
and Opal, and Carmen.
I know that.
And I can name probably
12 organizations
that are led by females.
I could only maybe name two
that are led, on the streets,
grassroot by males.
And so if we're
not going to lead,
then we must support our queens.
Every man in this room
should support their queen
if they're leading.
I support Lucy in what
she's doing with Everytown.
And so do not let
us be separated
by gender, whether
you're queer, LGBT,
do not let us be separated.
Do not let us be
separated when we
think that they're talking about
the Muslims, so we don't care.
If they do that to
the Muslim, they
do that to the black people.
If they do that to
the queer people,
they do that to
the black people.
If they do that to the Mexicans
and the Latinas and Latinas,
they do it to the black people.
So you cannot let
them separate gender,
separate sexual orientation.
You can't let them
separate nationalities.
When it's wrong, and
it's discrimination,
you must find it
any and everywhere.
LUCY MCBATH: And let me speak
from the mother's perspective,
definitely speaking from
the mother's perspective.
Yes, a mother's heart is what
the country usually hears.
But, even in that,
there's stigmatism
with the black mothers.
We are vilified because
the country in the world
says that you didn't
raise them properly.
That's the reason why
they were gunned down
because they were
in the wrong place
at the wrong time
doing something wrong.
It's automatically assumed
that they are in the wrong
and that we are
not good mothers.
We didn't raise them right.
They didn't do the right thing.
I didn't do the right thing.
That's the reason why
they were gunned down.
And, as a message to
your whole community,
this is what will
continue to happen
if you don't raise your voice
and raise your children right.
So there's a stigma
on the mother.
Even though you hear
the voice, we're
still looked upon as
you didn't do it right,
and you have no man
in the household.
That's why you
didn't get it right.
And where are the fathers,
as if to say that a mother,
a strong black minority mother
cannot raise a strong black
man.
And that is a terrible misnomer.
Most of the households in
this country that do not
have fathers have very
strong, proud, educated, Godly
black women that are
raising strong, educated,
Godly black men.
[APPLAUSE]
So I was sitting in a
meeting with Hillary Clinton.
And, yes, all the
mothers, we were there.
We were summoned to speak
with her-- Michael Brown's
mother, Trayvon Martin's mother,
Eric Garner's mother, I was
there, and Hidaya
Pendleton's mother, I mean,
all of the mothers of the
high profile shootings.
And it was so painful
to me as I turned
and I looked at Cleo
Pendleton, and I
said I can't believe
we have to sit here.
I can't believe why we are here.
Even though, yes, she
wants to hear from us.
And, yes, she wants
to hear our story.
She already has our
profiles and our bios.
She already knows the stories.
But the fact that we had
to sit there to convince
her to take some responsibility
if she's placed in office
to care about what's
happening to our children.
And it has to be the mothers
to do that because we're
raising these children,
these babies, that are being
gunned down in the street.
So if it is not the
voice of the mother,
then it's not going to happen.
Any cultural change or
shift in this country
has been led by a woman.
And this one, too,
will be led by a woman.
Yes, the men are just as
integral and important.
But it will be led by a woman
because of the mother's heart.
Our babies-- we have
birthed the babies
that are dying in the streets.
[APPLAUSE]
TORRENCE BOONE: I think want
to wrap by just bringing back
the call to action
that Ron mentioned,
which is go get change.
I think that's our call
to action for the evening.
And please join me in thanking
the panelists for their time.
[APPLAUSE]
And I would just like
to invite Chelsea
back up to give some
closing remarks,
and then we'll let you go.
RON DAVIS: And I have some
wristbands for you also.
[LAUGHING]
CHELSEA SEABRON: Awesome.
So I also would love to
give a round of applause
to Torrence Boone
for moderating today.
[APPLAUSE]
And it's a great example of
how our Google leadership also
has chosen to use your
place of privilege
and your place of influence
to show up for this dialogue.
So thank you.
I know it's late, but
I wanted to quickly let
everybody know a
couple next steps just
so you know how to expect
to hear from us after this.
So, after tonight's event,
we'll email everybody tomorrow
with a survey with some
challenging questions
to really let the
content of tonight
sink in and give you tools and
thoughts for how to make this
a real in your own life.
I also encourage you
guys to wear the t-shirts
that we provided.
From other screenings, it's
such a good dialogue spur.
So wear those t-shirts and share
what you experienced tonight.
And last, but
certainly not least,
you have bios for
every single panelist.
And so we would love for you
to plug into each cause that's
represented on stage.
And I think we'll all be
around for a little bit,
so feel free to stick around
for a couple of questions.
But thank you all for
showing up and getting
uncomfortable with
us this evening.
And we look forward to now all
being in this journey together.
So, however you
walk away tonight,
just feel empowered
to do your part.
So thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
