00:00Over the last several days, Essence was on the ground as protests erupted across the country
00:07in response to the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
00:13Part of the problem within the problem is that one-third of those killed every year are black,
00:20and we are only 13% of the population.
00:23That's right.
00:24There are two major crises in this country tonight, okay?
00:27As I said, two deadly viruses killing Americans.
00:33COVID-19, Racism 20.
00:35Many of these protests have been peaceful, but some have involved destruction, violence, and looting.
00:41People are fed up.
00:42I think that to allow ourselves as a community to start having some internal debate around the merits of riots and protests
00:51and the verbiage and really what becomes some semantical dialogue is a huge red herring.
00:56It is hugely distracting to the very important work that is necessary right now,
01:01which to me, in my legal opinion, we should be focused solely on the legislative change.
01:07Nothing else should matter right now.
01:09And we want those police who are responsible for the lynching of George Floyd.
01:18We want them to go to jail.
01:22We are in a state of emergency.
01:25Black people are dying in a state of emergency.
01:29I can't breathe.
01:29I can't breathe.
01:31I can't breathe.
01:34I can't breathe.
01:35In lieu of the recent protests, there have been instances where infiltrators have attempted to hijack the protests.
01:49Anarchists who have their own agenda masquerading as allies.
01:52On several occasions, peaceful protesters have intervened and tried to prevent them from causing destruction.
01:59Y'all are part of the problem.
02:01We out here standing together peacefully protesting without any problems.
02:08You got people of all races spraying on buildings talking about Black Lives Matter.
02:11That ain't even us.
02:12There's this group of white supremacists and it's these white people right here.
02:16Although the light at the end of the tunnel may seem dim, we have to fight to honor those who came before us and the ones who come after.
02:25Martin Luther King Jr. once said,
02:27The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
02:34That's the day we're still fighting for.
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