Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. Rayshard Brooks is why.

Rodney King is why.

Kalief Browder and Philando Castile.

Memories I can’t forget are why.

Korryn Gaines. Breonna Taylor. Sandra Bland.

Tony McDade and Nina Pop are why.

All of our brothers and sisters we’ve lost.

They’re why.

Why I fight.

Fight to end anti-Black violence.

And stand up to anyone who wants me to stay silent.

Knowing police killed three people every day last year

Seeing children in solitary confinement

Black kids going to jail for smoking the same weed white kids smoke freely

Seeing murdering cops get off because mayors and prosecutors are scared of police unions

Because politicians care more about corporations who profit from mass incarceration than they do about us

They may want me to go away

But I’m not going anywhere.

I’m not going anywhere.

I’m not stopping when this video is over

I’m not stopping.

Until politicians stop taking money away from teachers and nurses to give to the police

And taking supplies away from essential workers

Until mayors stop sending cops into schools to terrorize kids

Until police are told they are accountable to our communities

Not in charge of them

Until Congress stops equipping the police for war instead of holding them accountable for peace

Until mayors start telling police that they are the problem, not Black people

Until prosecutors start doing their jobs and charging police officers for abuse and perjury  

Until justice is real

Until justice is real

Juneteenth celebrates the people who fought to abolish slavery

But it’s up to us to abolish the legacy of slavery

That means downsizing the police

Making Black lives matter in every decision a corporation makes 

And every decision a government makes

I’m not stopping when this video is over

I’ve got a plan to fight

I’ve got a plan to do what I can

Don’t be tricked by fake changes

We have to fight until we get real changes

But the fight needs people to work

People like you and me

I’m not stopping when this video is over

And neither should you

Be part of the fight. 

Be part of the change.

Until justice is real.