the town that s made up of almost 30% black people. the town that was the first to voluntarily integrate schools in this country, the same town that mourns and never forgets the life of phillip pannell, back in 1990. phillip pannell s name was denied approval to be painted on this mural, but his life matters. while his name is not physically on here, let s have this mural be a representation in our hearts and minds of his legacy and that every single black brother and sister whose lives have been stolen had a legacy, too. (music) natacha: i was angry because all these years later, teaneck has still never acknowledged my brother. but then some of the young people that were on that blm mural committee, along with the superintendent and the board of education, said, no, you know, we re going to do a second mural and we re going to make sure that phillip pannell s name is on there.
and then being that i said to the committee that i support them. i went because of that. are you katz? this is elie katz. teaneck city council, deputy mayor katz. do you mind holding the poster of my brother? natacha: okay. thelma: you don t wanna hold it? natacha: no, that s okay, ma. male: one. we got it? natacha: that s the mayor and the deputy mayor. he refused to hold my brother s picture. mom, what s wrong? you re crying? how dare him to make you cry, ma? thelma: well, he had the nerve to say that? natacha: he doesn t care. (music) female: it really amazes me that it took months of hard work, negotiation and compromise to get the words black lives matter painted in the town of teaneck, new jersey.
natacha: yeah. happy birthday, clint. hallelujah. yeah. thelma: i can t explain it. it s something that lifts from my heart. it s just like this, i can get some sleep tonight. thank you, jesus. i can go to sleep. i can go to sleep. just from planting a tree, we got to go through this hell. just for doing a tree. a tree! he was worth more than that. more than that. but i know i could sleep tonight. it is not over with yet. it s not over with. but i want those young peoples never to give up. don t give up. don t let them bring you down. don t cut the spirit. they have to keep fighting. don t give up. (music)
i think the town overcame as best as it could, this tumultuous period, and therefore my objective was to try to get the mural and focus on what will bring us together as a community and not what will continue to divide us. (music) javalda: there s a schedule. as people come, they re going to get in their group and whoever s taken area a, they come, they get their group, they do their letter. we have it all planned out what letter is going when. male: thank you (music) natacha: with the council saying we don t want phillip pannell s name on there, i wasn t going to go to the blm mural painting, but the young people, they motivated me to go. my mom convinced me to go.
because thelma pannell was outside of that courtroom in a hallway, sobbing, just terrible, deep sobs. natacha: my mother was really hysterical and she broke down and she was saying, why, why? why, lord? bernie: i remember phil s mom s face and the hurt that she was dealing with in that moment and the cheers that the police officers let out. to this day, it s tough because you re celebrating the release of your fellow police officer. but the reason for the verdict is my child s death, and you cheering that. so, there was just no empathy there. walter: hearing the anguish of phillip s mother, put into proper context the reality of black life in america. that you can kill a black person. a jury can hear the evidence and let the person walk. and the family has to deal with it. and so what? batron: the system didn t work. the system s broke. you know the system s not for a black man.