Cori Bush becomes Missouri's first Black Congresswoman

Brut America

"To the Black women, the Black girls, the nurses, the essential workers, the single mothers. This is our moment."  Cori Bush is the first Black woman from Missouri to be elected to Congress.

Transcript

00:00I was that person running for my life across a parking lot,

00:06running from an abuser.

00:09I remember one day hearing bullets whiz past my head.

00:14And at that moment, I wondered,

00:18how do I make it out of this life?

00:22I was uninsured.

00:25I've been that uninsured person,

00:28hoping my healthcare provider wouldn't embarrass me

00:31by asking me if I had insurance.

00:34I wondered, how will I bear this?

00:39I was a single parent.

00:41I've been that single parent struggling,

00:43paycheck to paycheck,

00:45sitting outside the payday loan office,

00:48wondering how much more will I have to sacrifice?

00:53I was that COVID-19 patient.

00:58I've been that COVID-19 patient gasping for breath,

01:03wondering how long will it be

01:06until I can breathe freely again?

01:10I'm still that person.

01:13I'm proud to stand before you today,

01:17knowing it was this person with these experiences,

01:22that moved the voters of St. Louis to do something historic.

01:28St. Louis, my city, my home, my community.

01:35We have been surviving and grinding,

01:38just scraping by for so long.

01:41And now this is our moment to finally, finally start living.

01:46Let's finally start living.

01:47Let's finally start growing.

01:49Let's finally start thriving.

01:52So, as the first black woman,

01:59-- Woo!

02:00-- Woo!

02:01-- Woo!

02:02-- Woo!

02:03-- Woo!

02:04-- Woo!

02:05-- Woo!

02:06-- Woo!

02:07-- Woo!

02:08-- And also the first nurse,

02:10-- Woo!

02:11-- Yeah!

02:12-- Woo!

02:13-- Woo!

02:14-- And single mother to have the honor

02:17to represent Missouri in the United States Congress.

02:22-- Yay!

02:24-- Let me say this,

02:29to the black women, the black girls,

02:33the nurses, the essential workers,

02:37the single mothers, this is our moment.

02:42-- Woo!

02:42-- Yay!

02:47-- Six years ago, St. Louis captured the eyes

02:51and the ears of the entire world

02:52during the Ferguson uprising.

02:55We could not stand the injustice any longer.

02:57So in the tradition of every one of our ancestors

03:01who fought for a better world,

03:03we organized for Michael Brown Jr.

03:05We organized for more than 400 days side by side,

03:08locked arm in arm, St. Louis strong.

03:12And now in the face of a global pandemic

03:15and the relentless attacks on our right to vote,

03:19we organized all the way to the ballot box.

03:23We mailed in our ballots, we voted absentee,

03:25we reached our families, our friends,

03:27our neighbors, and our peers,

03:28and we showed up St. Louis strong.

03:34For years, we've lived under leadership

03:37that shut us out of our own government.

03:40For years, we've been left out in the cold,

03:44protesting in the streets, sleeping in our cars or tents,

03:48working three part-time jobs just to pay the bills.

03:53And today, today, we, all of us,

04:00are headed to Congress.

04:01St. Louis strong.

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