00:00Hi, I'm Lauren Williams, news editor at Essence Magazine, and I'm here with Nicole Paltrow-Bell,
00:09wife of Sean Bell, Sabrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, Cariatu Diallo, mother of Amadou Diallo,
00:16and they just all came together at the Superdome, the 20th anniversary Essence Festival,
00:21to surprise Reverend Al Sharpton in a tribute for all the great work he's done in their lives.
00:25It's the first time they've all met together, and I just want to start with you, Miss Bell.
00:30What does it mean to be able to salute Reverend Al in this way for all the great work he's done for you?
00:35Reverend Sharpton has done so much for me.
00:37He took a 22-year-old girl who had given up on life and really strengthened me.
00:45So only a man who is God-sent can strengthen a woman or strengthen a person who has given up
00:52and who has believed that there's no more strength.
00:56So it's so important just to be here and to pay him honor.
01:00Miss Fulton, this morning at Essence we saluted mothers in New Orleans who had family members who were victims of gun violence,
01:10and I just wanted to see if you had any words of encouragement for them.
01:14How do you turn a tragedy and find hope in it and really look to activism?
01:19One of the people that Essence had to come out was Lisa Nichols.
01:24Lisa Nichols is a life coach, and she's one of the people that when I brought mothers together of children who are victims of senseless gun violence,
01:34she was the person that actually told us that's a chapter in our life and what is going to happen after that chapter.
01:41We all know that it happened.
01:43Now what are we going to do since it happened?
01:46And so it made us realize that, yes, it is a chapter in our life, but we still have to move on and try to help someone else's child.
01:54I just simply think that, you know, when it happens to you, you think it's the worst thing in the world, and it is.
02:02I don't want to take anything away from that.
02:04It is the worst thing in the world.
02:06But what are we going to do with it after it happens?
02:09Can we help and continue to help to save somebody else's child?
02:14Ms. Diallo, this year, Amadou would have been 39 years old, and in that time, you've done so much activist work in his name with the Amadou Diallo Foundation.
02:23Can you just update us on what you've been up to lately?
02:26Thank you so much.
02:27When my son was killed in February 4, 1999, I thought the world was ending, and I grieved, and I prayed, and I said to myself, I'm going to fight for him, not only for his legacy, but also to clear his name.
02:45Reverend Sharpton was the one who held me.
02:48I was on his shoulders, and we did everything we can to advocate, saying that it could happen to anyone else.
02:56And I cried then, and I said, my tears and Amadou's blood would feed the battle for justice.
03:03With the Amadou Diallo Foundation, we have a platform where we are helping African students to get scholarship, continue their higher education,
03:13because one of the goals my son had, his dream, was to come to America and have an American degree.
03:20And his life on timely death has cut short his dream.
03:24And now, his legacy will help others achieve this goal.
03:29So, thank you so much.
03:31Reverend Sharpton, I'm going to end with you.
03:33You've touched each of these women's lives.
03:35They're from all different walks of life.
03:37What does it mean for you to be here and have them all together in this way?
03:40They completely surprised you.
03:41You had no idea.
03:42What does it mean to be saluted by them in this way?
03:44It is one of the highlights of my life, because you fight for what you believe, and you don't know what's going to happen.
03:53You don't know what case is going to be big.
03:56You do it because it's right.
03:58But these three women made us all feel like we not only did what was right because they lost a loved one wrongly, unjustly,
04:09and didn't get justice about it.
04:12But each one of them continued to work.
04:15Nicole started a group and went on to run for office.
04:19Sabrina has a national foundation in empowering other women.
04:22And Katia Diallo, since 99, has refused to back up.
04:28She's still supporting victims and bringing people from African or African Americans together.
04:35And her foundation just had a huge event in New York, even all these years later.
04:40So it shows that not only have they become widows and mothers of fallen, they become leaders in their own right.
04:49And for them to come tonight and surprise me, I couldn't describe it because I had no idea.
04:55But if there was three women I respect in life after my mother, it would be these three women because they've turned into mothers of the whole community.
05:04Reverend Sharpton, Ms. Bell, Ms. Fulton, and Ms. Diallo, thank you so much for being with us today.
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