The story of the #IAmVanessaGuillen movement

Brut America

She was a soldier who went missing and was later found dead. We spoke to Vanessa Guillen's sisters on why they never stopped fighting for justice and reform …

Transcript

00:00My sister's no joke!

00:02My sister's a human being!

00:05And I want justice!

00:07And I want answers!

00:10Because my sister...

00:13did not do this to herself!

00:14Someone did it!

00:20What's her name?

00:21Vanessa!

00:31It has to stop now and it has to stop with her story.

00:35It's something that I want people to remember about her.

00:38That she fought and fought.

00:53The same night that I traveled to Fort Hood,

00:56even just starting the conversation with the staff

00:59surgeon, it was very bogged.

01:02He had no idea she was missing in the first place.

01:04I just one day decided outside of Fort Hood

01:07to grab a microphone and say what's wrong

01:09and say what's right.

01:10And I believe that it wasn't only my voice that

01:13impacted my sister's case, but everyone's voice

01:16that was used.

01:17If we all just sit behind and watch this happening,

01:20then it's going to keep happening.

01:22And that just there, it's just injustice.

01:25I'm definitely very proud of Lupe.

01:28She, at the beginning, was a force

01:31that you could not mess with.

01:33I mean, I can't imagine being in her shoes

01:36as a 16-year-old.

01:37She took the mic and she yelled for her sister.

01:59Something was wrong with her the few months

02:01after she was stationed at Fort Hood.

02:28I saw somebody post up on Twitter that they were

02:30raped at Fort Sam in their A school.

02:32Wow.

02:33And then I posted up right below her.

02:35And then another girl.

02:36Oh my God.

02:37And another girl.

02:38And the next thing I knew, there were almost

02:40a dozen of us.

02:41Each and every one of us standing here today

02:45has either been a victim or has known someone

02:49who was a victim.

02:50Now is the time for conversation.

02:52Now is the time to stand up and say no more.

02:55No more.

02:56Now is the time to say I am Vanessa Gillian.

02:59It was very disturbing to find out and read

03:01all these stories that were being shared.

03:03I'm happy that victims were brave enough to

03:06start speaking out and sharing their story

03:08because those stories helped us

03:11get through the finish line.

03:20We literally had to put our emotions aside

03:22and we didn't get a chance to grieve

03:24and I feel like that was also a power source

03:26for us to keep going and lifting Vanessa's name

03:30and her voice.

03:31Vanessa and Myra were like my other mothers.

03:36And I mean for her to keep going, you know,

03:40even though her family was there,

03:42like a motherhood role,

03:44but like we needed,

03:46it was a way to stand up and speak up

03:49and still be a part of the community.

03:52It was a way to stand up.

03:55It was a way to be a part of what we do.

03:57It was a way to be a part of our own community.

03:59You know, even though her and Vanessa were like like this tight,

04:04it's I'm proud of her for, you know,

04:08because I know she could have just stepped aside and she could have,

04:10you know, just gone back to what is called normal.

04:14But nothing's going to be normal. And I'm proud of her.

04:23The bill criminalizes sexual harassment, which

04:27surprisingly, it wasn't a crime in the UCMJ before.

04:32It also removes the cases and the reporting from the commander's hand,

04:37which from the chain of command, definitely going forward.

04:41We do want to hopefully next year introduce

04:44half of the provisions that were not passed, unfortunately, just recently.

04:58If people come together, then positive things can get done.

05:03So I hope people look into the film, watch it, share it,

05:08speak about it, get inspired and help us help our military community.

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