Tamika Mallory on Nationwide #GeorgeFloyd Protests, May 29, 2020


“If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.”
-- Audre Lorde


Tamika Mallory's speech provides an important lesson and warning about letting other people define what the nationwide #GeorgeFloyd protests means for us and why you should not allow people to write our story of our actions.

See my full transcription of the speech below.






My transcription of Tamika Mallory's Speech on Nationwide #GeorgeFloyd Protests


This is a coordinated activity happening across this nation, 
And so we 
are in 
a state of emergency.
Black people are dying, 
in a state of emergency.
We cannot look at this 
as an isolated incident.
The reason why buildings are burning are not just for our brother 
George Floyd.
They are burning down 
because people here 
in Minnesota are saying to people in New York 
to people in California, 
to people in Memphis, 
to people all across this nation:
Enough is enough.
And we are not responsible 
for the mental illness
that has been inflicted upon our people by the American government, 
institutions, 
and those people who are in positions of power. 
I don’t give a damn if they burn down Target
because Target should be on the streets with us
calling for the justice 
that our people deserve.
Where was AutoZone 
at the time when Philando Castille was shot in a car, 
which is what they actually represent? 
Where were they?
So if you are not coming to the people’s defense,
then don’t challenge us
when young people 
and other people who are frustrated 
and instigated by the people you pay.
You are paying instigators 
to be among our people out there 
throwing rocks, 
breaking windows, 
and burning down buildings. 
And so young people are responding to that. 
They are enraged, 
and there's an easy way to stop it: 
Arrest the cops.
Charge the cops.
Charge all the cops.
Not just some of them.
Not just here in Minneapolis. 
Charge them in every city
across America 
where our people are being murdered. 
Charge them everywhere.
That’s the bottom line.
Charge the cops.
Do your job. 
Do what you say 
this country is supposed to be about, the land of the free for all.
It has not been free for black people,
And we are tired.
Don’t talk to us about looting. 
Y’all are the looters.
America 
has looted 
black people. 
America looted the Native Americans when they first came here.
So looting is what you do: We learned it from you. 
We learned violence from you.
We learned violence from you.
The violence 
was what we learned 
from you.
So if you want us to do better, 
then damnit, 
you do better.


Note: Any errors in this transcription are my own fault.

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