0 something, i don't know what you writing on social media. i know what i saw on the tape. and the tape speaks for itself. they never asked this man for his license. never asked for the car registration. snatched him out of the car and began beating him. nobody mentioned nothing about no girlfriend. nobody mentioned nothing about no -- they started beating an unarmed man. >> tell 'em. in the city that they slayed the dreamer, what has happened to the dream? in the city where the dreamer laid down and shed his blood, you have the unmitigated gall to beat your brother, chase him down and beat him some more, call for backup and they take 20 minutes. and you watch him and you were too busy talking among each other, no empathy, no concern. if you read the story of joseph, when his brothers threw him in the pit, nobody came to help him like nobody came to help tyre. waiting on ambulance service that didn't show up until it's too late. what will happen to his dream? well, we'll just tell them something else happened, but we are going to throw him into the pit but i come to memphis today to tell you the same mistake joseph's brothers made is a mistake you made. you thought you threw joseph in a pit. you thought you threw dr. king's dream in a pit, but every time you throw something in a pit, god takes the pit and raised it up and changes the whole world. let me be clear, we understand that there are concerns about public safety. we understand that there is need to deal with crime, but you don't fight crime by becoming criminals yourself. [ applause ] you don't stand up to thugs in the street becoming thugs yourself. you don't fight gangs by becoming five armed men against an unarmed man. that ain't the police. that's punks. [ applause ] man said i didn't do nothing. you kept on going anyhow. why do they go ahead? because they feel that there is no accountability. they feel that we are going to get angry a day or two then we're going on to something else. but some of us do this every day. some of us believe the dream has to come true. some of us are going to fight until we make this legislation happen. i don't know when, i don't know how, but we won't stop until we hold you accountable and change the system. why do we want to see the george floyd justice in policing act pass? because then you will have to think twice before you beat tyre nichols. you think twice before you shoot at someone unarmed. you think twice before you chokehold eric garner. you think twice before you put your knee on george floyd's neck. because if you don't have qualified immunity, your wife would be telling you before you leave home, behave yourself because we could lose the house. we could lose the car. behave yourself because our savings can be gone. you want to be a tough guy, well, let's get rid of qualified immunity and see if you learn the same manners you have on the whiteside of town you have some manners on the black side of town. [ applause ] well, reverend al, you don't understand. how will they keep crime down in the black community and at the same time not be tough and rough? well, they do it the same way they do it on the whiteside of memphis. and they keep the crime down without being rough and tough. how do you have the same department and keep crime down on one side of town without beating folk to death but you can't do it on the other side of town. unless you feel that you can get away with it there. i can't speak for everybody in memphis, i can't speak for everybody gathering but for me i believe that that man had been white, you wouldn't have beat him like that that night. [ applause ] we're not asking for nothing special. we're asking to be treated equal. and to be treated fair. and just like they marched and boycotted and went to jail for nine years from the '55 montgomery bus boycott to t the '64 civil rights act, we're going to pay the same dues to get this george floyd justice in policing act. [ applause ] reverend, how long? i don't know how long. they didn't know how long it would be when they boycotted the '50s. it's not about a timetable. it's that we cannot continue to live under these double standards and under these conditions. we don't care how long but i can tell you one thing, those of you that keep voting against that bill, we're going to vote against you. we got more numbers than the police unions. [ applause ] i believe that god will do for us what we'll do for ourselves. and even in the pit, joseph never lost his faith. joseph could have gave up. joseph could have gave out, but in the pit he still believed in the god of his fathers, and even as i stand over the casket of this innocent young boy, this young man, 39 years old with a 4-year-old son that his mother and father and his siblings have to raise, i believe that god will take him, tyre, out of that pit and use him as a symbol for justice all over this country. i believe that babies unborn will know about tyre nichols because we won't let him memory die. we're going to change this country because we refuse to keep living under the threat of the cops and the robbers. [ applause ] what touched me, i was raised by a single mother, daddy left when i was 10, momma raised my sister and i on welfare and food stamps. touched me is when i heard him calling for his mother. just like george floyd was calling for his mother. something you'd have to be a black man that only thing between you and disaster was your mother. to understand what calling for your mother means. somewhere deep in my heart i understood tyre because only thing that kept the kids from laughing at my banana sandwiches in school because she couldn't afford enough to put meat there but momma would make it all right for me and he knew if he could just get mother, that they would quit beating him and quit stomping on him. all he wanted to do was get home. now, home, reverend, home is not just a place. home is not just a physical location. home is where you are at peace. home is where you don't have to keep your dukes up. home is where you're not vulnerable. home is where everything is all right. he said all i want to do is get home. i come to memphis to say the reason i keep going is all i'm trying to do it get home. i want to get where they can't treat me with a double standard. i'm trying to get home. i want to get where they can't call me names no more. i want to get home. i want to get where they can't shoot and ask questions later. i'm trying to get home. every black in america stands up every day trying to get home. [ applause ] last night we went to mason temple, church of god in christ and the wells family and tyre's sisters and brother stood there where martin luther king gave his last speech. they didn't know that night it was his speech for the last time. i was told by those that worked with king that raised me and i recounted it with mrs. king, i worked very closely with martin iii, we're going back to washington, august 26th during his father's 60th anniversary we'll deal with tyre and the rest of these issues. and they told me that that day april 3rd, 1968, it was raining and storming. dr. king said he didn't even feel like going to the rally. he had come to memphis a week before to lead a march for the sanitation workers. and some provocateurs got at the end of the march, you know there's still some around now blacker than anybody else, as active as anybody else. they started a rite at the end of the march and the press said, oh, dr. king's day is over. nonviolence is dead so he came back to prove that he could march. if i ft or so-called militants, dr. king would have never faced what he faced. that's why all of these people talking bad at you and i don't know, don't have no background on, be careful of who jumps in movements. because they set serious folk up. dr. king came back and that day was raining and he said to dr. ralph abernathy, you speak. i don't feel like going tonight. and they went on to the church and when they got there the church was full in a storm and dr. abernathy went into the pay phone and he called back to the lorraine motel, a black owned motel, told them to put his call through to room 306, dr. king picked up the phone, he said, martin, you need to come. there are thousands here. they didn't come to see me. dr. king got in the car by himself and rode over to mason temple and he started speaking that night and something came over him. he said that i don't fear any man. he said, god has allowed me to go to the mountaintop. and i've seen the promised land. and that's the last speech he gave right here in memphis when he went to the mountaintop. i believe when he looked over he could see a barack obama become president. i believe when he went to the mountaintop, he could look over and see a kamala harris sitting as vice president. i believe when he looked over from the mountaintop, he saw black police chiefs, he didn't expect you to disgrace him. he expected you to bring us on to the promised land. that's why i'm still marching. yes, i got books out. yes, i got a tv show, but i'm a mountain climber. i'm not going to stop till i get to the top of the mountain. you can call me names on right wing television, i'm a mountain climber. i expect stumbles to come my way. i'm a mountain climber. you can disgrace me, you can discredit me but i'm going to keep on climbing. i'm going to climb until tyre nichols gets justice, i'm going to climb until eric garner gets justice, i'm going to climb until we change the laws. we're mountain climbers, we're not traders. we're mountain climbers and the god before us is more than the whole world against us. he walks with me. he talks with me. he tells me that i'm his own. he's been fooled when i was hungry, water, when i was thirsty, he's my rock. he's my rock. he's my rock. my sword and shield, my will in the middle of the will, yes, yes. [ applause ] >> yes, sir, the mountaintop. >> let us have a call to action. let us go forward to get justice. let us all be mountain climbers. don't stop. till we get to the top. many years ago there was a young boy killed at a boot camp in florida. those in charge killed this boy. it was a young lawyer that called me in new york asked me to come and stand with the students in tallahassee, florida. and i went down and we led some marches. after that a couple years later he came to see me with a man. i started "politicians nation" then and he wanted me to meet this man. this man sat in my office and told me that a wanna-be security guard had killed his son. the man started crying me about his son trayvon martin and as i looked at his tears and looked at this lawyer, i thought about how i never saw my father cry for me and i said if i can help, i'll help, and we started the trayvon martin movement. we called a nationalen. i got some radio announcers to help us, and we put 10,000 people in that little town in florida. [ applause ] the morning, the morning of that march my mother died and they thought i would not come and i started to turn around, but i said, no, my mother would have wanted me to stand up for trayvon. and that lawyer and i have been locked shoulder to shoulder ever since. he's known now all over the world as the attorney general for black america. why? because he'll fight for us when others won't. oh, they're going to call you names. they're always going to give you another angle. the only way you know you are making headways if you have opposition. only time i get a concern is when everybody is on my side. but when y'all start calling me names, it gives me extra exercise in the morning because i know that people don't react unless you act. you can't be an activist if you don't have some reactivist. i bring you to give us our call to action the attorney general of black america, attorney benjamin crump. [ applause ] >> y'all give it up for one of the greatest mountain climbers in america today, reverend al sharpton. [ applause ] mountain climber. thank you for being a mentor and just a person who always answers the bell. a lot of these families here, reverend al, you answered the bell for when many people wouldn't answer the bell. we know the big names that became hashtags, but for every george floyd, for every breonna taylor, for every ahmaud arbery, there are 100 other nameless black people who have been killed in america that nobody remembered but you answered the bell, reverend al sharpton, and i want to say thank you publicly. [ applause ] to pastor turner, thank you for allowing us in your cathedral. to all the other clergy, to mayor keisha lance bottoms, we thank you for coming to congresswoman sheila jackson lee who told rowvaughn and rodney that not only is she going to reintroduce the george floyd justice in policing act right after the state of the union address, but she is also going to have a tyre nichols duty to intervene in that legislation so thank you. [ applause ] so, congressman steve, we thank you for your great leadership in memphis, tennessee. and certainly to mitchell landry and i would be remiss if i didn't acknowledge yet again the highest ranking african american woman in united states history the vice president of the united states, kamala harris, who did not think it robbery to take time out of her busy schedule to come and comfort this black mother who lost her child unjustly. thank you, madam vice president. we will never forget this day. and then i want to acknowledge some of the activists. the local activists here in memphis, tennessee, who were here before i even got here, i want you all to stand and be recognized because without you local activists we would not have heard about tyre nichols. [ applause ] i had the activists' names written down and i will thank them in my conversation if you hand that to reverend al and i want to thank some of the national activists who didn't think it robbery to come. i know tamika mallory and also -- thank you, reverend al. we got kazuo montez, we got paula barris, we got hunter dempster and aaron sherman en. l. jay abraham and frank gotti and pam moses, we wouldn't be here without you activists, so thank you. w50e8d not be here. a lot of times we acknowledge the people in high positions, but it's the people who on the ground on the front line like you taught me, reverend al, who make the difference. so let me just be as constrained as i can and give the call to action. i do so on behalf of my co-counsels, antonio rom unusual chi, ernestine and van turner, the naacp president, yeah, a local in memphis, attorney chris o'neal andnatalie jackson and our whole team, kareem ali, we're all in this together fighting for justice for you, rowvaughn, for you, mr. rodney, fighting for justice and so when we do the call to action it really is a plea for justice. and it is a plea for tyre nichols, the son. it is a plea for justice for tyre nichols the brother. it is a plea for justice for tyre nichols the father. but most of all it is a plea for justice for tyre nichols, the human being. [ applause ] the human being. and when we watch, we don't see the memphis police department scorpion unit extend one ounce of humanity during that one hour and seven minute video. as your neighbor, why couldn't they see the humanity in tyre? turn to your neighbor, ask them that. why couldn't they see the humanity in tyre? for his momma, turn to your neighbor again and ask them why couldn't they see the humanity in tyre? and then finally for his son, turn to your neighbor and ask, why couldn't they see the humanity in tyre? because we have to make sure they see us as human beings and once we acknowledge that we're human beings, worthy of respect and justice, then we have the god given right to say, i am a human being and i deserve justice, not just any justice, but equal justice and that's what we're going to get for tyre nichols, equal justice. and, miss rowvaughn, rodney, jamal, michael, quiana, to all his family, grandma, his son, i know we can't bring tyre back, but in this call to action, we establish his legacy, and let's never let them forget memphis because his legacy will be one of equal justice. it will be the blueprint going forward because we have to remember that in less than 20 days when it was five black police officers captured on a video engaging in excessive use of force, when they were committing crimes on video, that they were terminated, they were arrested and they were charged and the police chief davis and i have respect for her saying this, the police chief said that it was important that the community see us take swift action. they said it was important that we move swiftly towards justice. well, when laquan mcdonald was killed in chicago and by white police officers, it's important that a community see swift justice too. when alton sterling was killed in batten huge, mitch, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when stephon clark was killed in sacramento, california, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when ark garner was killed in staten island, new york, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when pamela turner was killed in houston, texas, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when e.j. bradford was killed on thanksgiving night in birmingham, alabama, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when terrance was a black man, reverend al, having car trouble in the broad daylight in tulsa, oklahoma, walking away with his hands up and they shot him in the back on video, it was important that the community see swift justice too on that. when botham jean eating ice cream in his own apartment, police woman come in shoot and kill him say, i thought it was my apartment in self-defense in her position it was a need to have swift justice too. and so no more, no more can they ever tell us when we have evidence on video of them brutalizing us that it's going to take six years, that it's going to take a month, that it's going to take three years like laquan mcdonald, no, no, no, 20 days, we're going to start counting, we can count to 20 and every time you kill one of us on video we're going to say the legacy of tyre nichols is that we have equal justice swiftly. swiftly. [ applause ] swiftly. and so, reverend al, i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge a sister who also deserves swift justice and that is breonna taylor. whose mother tamika palmer is here. and many of you may have heard about this coincidence. that breonna taylor and tyre nichols were born on the same day and the same year, june 5th, 1993. so i want to acknowledge tamika palmer and i know you said it brought back so many memories and pain when you found out it was the same birthday so if you will stand, tamika palmer, let us at least acknowledge breonna taylor's mother. [ applause ] thank you and now reverend al, i guess we're going to hear a brief reflection from the family and this is hard, so -- >> let me as we bring the family, i also want to acknowledge some of our faith leaders and our faith leaders activists that have come all the way. first of all a man who interprets the intelligencia of our time, dr. michael eric dyson. [ applause ] the pastor of new birth baptist church of atlanta, georgia, reverend jamal brian is in the house. i'm sorry, reverend jamal harrison brian. reverend john gray from greenville, south carolina. i must acknowledge two members of the board of national action network outstanding clergymen, the pastor of mount pisgah baptist church in harlem and head of impact and member of the national board stand up. i'm trying to see where you're sitting. okay, there he is. reverend johnny, stand up, reverend. johnny green. johnny l. green. and pastor of new hope baptist church of elizabeth, new jersey, member of our board, the reverend stephie bartley. i want to thank our staff that worked with reverend turner and his staff, i want to thank all of the staff of our brother, attorney ben crump, hard working staff, certainly reverend toom of my staff who really worked hard and reverend dr. -- ain't a doctor yet. reverend steven marshall travels with me and so many reverend nelson rivers has been on this and probably the pre-eminent media expert in the country today rachel nordlinger who handled all media. [ applause ] and damon by ham. i have to say this so i don't get thrown off the plane tonight and the family gathers, let me ask you all as this family stands here, i want to say this publicly what i said to the mother and father privately that we'll be with them when the cameras are gone. we'll be with them when there's no longer a story, the floyd family and mother of eric garner, i'll tell you it doesn't matter how long, i'm in the family now. i might show up for christmas, look for my gift under the tree. because we're wedded in this struggle together and i want y'all to treat us like family and we want y'all to be like -- if you're not going to stick with it, don't be jumping up in front of the camera for them. >> amen. [ applause ] i know they done seen more of tyre's best friends on tv that they didn't even know was his best friends. people hallucinating they knew tyre. well, you know something, tyre -- you just getting a cameo. that is wrong. let us support this family. and stand with this family. momma wants to build -- she wants to build a skating rink in his name. we're going to do that but we're also going to sdoet get some justice pore mommy and for daddy. tyre was the kind of man that would come home and eat lunch with his daddy, stepdaddy and have dinner at night. this was a good man that didn't deserve this. and nobody deserves it but he especially didn't deserve it. and to give you some of what he was about, we're going to hear from some of the members of his family, going to start with his sister. wait a minute. before you speak, i didn't give kareem, nobody worked harder than kareem. we call kareem like he was on my payroll. we love kareem. we'll have -- these are two of the sisters of tyre. [ applause ] >> i'm going to take this time to some things you may not know. it's very hard to stand here so bear with me. tyre was my baby brother. him and i are 11 years apart. he was so special to me and he loved me and i loved him dearly. you know, being the oldest of three boys, i had to watch my brothers, take them places that i probably didn't want to take them, watch them at times when i didn't want to watch them. but with ty, i didn't mind. he never wanted anything but to watch cartoons and a big bowl of cereal. so it was pretty easy to watch him. on the night of january 7th my brother was robbed of his life, his passions and his talents, but not his light. when my mother called me and said my baby brother was gone i lost my faith, i cried, i screamed at god asking how could he let this happen? and then my cries turned to anger and anger turned to deep sorrow. and a pain i never felt when those monsters murdered my baby brother. and left me completely heartbroken. i see the world showing him love and fighting for his justice. but all i want is my baby brother back. and even in his demise he was still polite. he asked them to please stop. he was still the polite young man he always was. he asked them to please stop and they didn't and that's why my family will never be the same and i will just always love my baby brother forever. thank you. >> i'm just trying to go home. i'm just trying to go home. is that too much to ask? i didn't break any laws along this path. i've skated across barriers designed to hold me back. i'm just trying to go home. where the love is loud and the smiles are warm like the sunsets that come for me in the coldest of my storms. i'm just trying to go home. i hear the siren, i see the flashing lights. the directions are clear. black skin go left, blue skin go right. i'm just trying to go home. don't i deserve to feel safe? at times badges, boots, bright lights against my face. i'm just trying to go home. does anyone hear the pain in my cry? the struggle in my breath. god replied, come home, my son. now you can rest. [ applause ] >> we're going to hear now from his brothers, james and jamal. >> how are you guys doing? so, i didn't plan to speak today, but i was just sitting here watching everything. my brother was really robbed of his life. you know, my brother didn't live up to the normal black man hype, basketball player, football player, rapper, none of that, right? he set his own path. you know, he made his own light. he seen the world way different than i've ever seen it before. and when i sit here and look at the screens of the work that my brother has done and from the vigils, from people talking to me about my brother, i learned so much about him and i don't think people just tell me this or be telling me but my brother really touched a lot of lives. he was a very solid individual. he was very peaceful. he was very respectful and again i've spent a lot of time away from my brother and i wish that i hadn't because i want to know the person that everybody else knows, you know, and five officers made that happen to where i won't ever be able to do that, so just being here just sucks, but i'll never forget my brother. i'll never forget my gemini twin. i love you and save a spot for me, bro. [ applause ] >> good evening. my name is james. my god brother is tyre. it's not too much i can say that hasn't already been said about him from everybody. but i wanted to share a story of how he got his name, though. my mom -- my sister said earlier and my mom named him which was -- came from a movie called "silverado," one of the characters in it and she liked that movie but she wanted to name me that but always kept that name in her back pocket for some reason and '93 came and our boy came and she was, there you are, tyre. and i used to always joke with him, like, man, you keep messing with me, take my name back. no, you ain't, that's my name. but it was how he said it. you know, he was 8 and he was already knew who he was. like i'm tyre. this is me. you know, and i always remember that about my little dude. coming in the house watching him eat cereal and watching looney t tunes and thanks for showing love. there ain't too much that i can say that hasn't already been said about my dude. i just miss him and i love him and this shouldn't have never happened and thank y'all. [ applause ] >> let me as i bring the parents recognize for the parents you talked about a movie that rowvaughn liked that i was not supposed to acknowledge and just wanted to come down with me and fly back but he's here with us and wants to do something around this. oscar winning director spike lee is in the house. [ applause ] he's sitting there with my daughter so you know she's going to try to be in the next movie but nobody has shown more strength and more dignity than rowvaughn wells. rowvaughn wells and rodney wells have borne such pain for us and they didn't want to speak but i just think that we need to just hear them say something. this is their son. this is their struggle and i know they're going to have weak days. let us be their strength. let us hear from the parents of tyre. [ applause ] i'd like to start by saying thank you for everybody's support. this has been a journey. it's not going to end here. it's just a beginning. we're looking forward to passing some bills. we're looking forward to getting justice for all the families over there. [ applause ] not just ours. this is a continuous fight that we have to fight for. we have to fight for justice. we cannot continue to let these people brutalize our kids. [ applause ] to have my siblings up here, my wife and it's very hard for my wife, you know. this is her baby son and there's nothing like your baby boy. when we got the news, it was very, very difficult. it was surrounded by lies, deceit, trying to cover it up. but as they say what's done in the dark will always come to the light. [ applause ] and the light of day is justice for tyre. tyre. >> justice for our lost loved ones . >> to support it. i appreciate it. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> first of all, i want to thank each and everyone of you. >> and for this to happen to him is unmentionable . [ applause ] >> and i guess now there's a time where it's done . >> and my family, the chief of police. the state of tennessee . >> i'll lead. >> i just need to know george floyd didn't need to pass. because there should be no need. people have lost their children. we need to get that bill passed. [ applause ] >> the next child that dies, that blood is going to be on their hands. >> give her a hand. [ applause ] >> give a hand to the family . >> we're going to do the processional. and then words of comfort and one minute because the family has to move out and y'all know i do a show called politics nation, but if y'all go over a minute i'm going to do the gong show in here today. words of comfort. we already did the eulogy and the call to action so let's are go on and we can move the family forward as they request. let me bring reverend dr. earle fischer of abesernian baptist church followed by reverend rodney woodley and reverend -- bishop marvin thomas of the first episcopal district and then bishop brandon porter. secretary of the general board of god and church and christ. y'all come together, this way we have one right after another as we -- and we seriously -- i know some family have to catch planes. we need to be expeditious. we're grateful for your prayer. >> protocol has been established to this family. when i saisai his name, tyre. >> tyre. >> that's some africana ways of knowing. as long as you say someone's name, they shall never die. it's not too much i can add other than this to this family. we will see him again. i was at first african in savannah, georgia, doing a workshop. i was in the administrative assistant's office and i realized i needed something to project my presentation, so i ran to best buy. i had the associated pastor take me, and we took longer than they had expected but i left my book bag in the administrative assistant's office. when i got back she said, i thought you'd never come back. i said, did you look around? i said, had you looked around intently you would have saw i left something and that signified that at some point you would see me again. i know he's in the hands of god. i know he's in the ancestral realm but look around intently. he's left something. he's left a child. he's left brothers and sisters. he's left a mother and a father. he's left activists and organizers and community members, and i believe every time we raise our voice for love and justice and power, we will see tyre again. may the family find comfort in these words. >> i'd just like to say to my friends, rodney and the entire family, that we are soldiers and we're in this army. we're fighting a fight that seems oftentimes unwinnable, but what i got as i sat here and listened was on that day of january 7th tyre got drafted unknowingly into a service as a secret agent. he was drafted as a secret agent for a secret mission that he had no idea that he had been drafted for, but just like any soldier before they go off to war to do battle, they want to go and do something that they love so he went away to take some pictures, but on his way home the battle was already afoot. so understand this, that just because it looks like he lost the battle, the war will be won because i heard this statement and i'll keep it clear. wars come and go, but soldiers are eternal. god bless you. [ applause ] >> the poem "i, too, sing america." i want to lift from that poem these two words, i, too. with permission to say we, too. on behalf of the bishop lawrence