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!
01:59-- Woo!
02:00-- Woo!
02:01-- Woo!
02:02-- Woo!
02:03-- Woo!
02:04-- 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.
Comments