Interview with a young Black woman from Freddie Gray's neighborhood
April 22, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Here, one of many marchers in Baltimore who have carried the revcom.us posters with names and faces of people killed by police in the streets. Photo: special to revcom.us.
A young Black woman from Freddie Gray's neighborhood: I understand how everyone feels. I feel the same way they do. But two things for certain. Police corruption just has to stop. It needs to come to an end. For them to just be running around and getting away with killing people is not okay. Therefore the six police officers that killed Freddie Gray to be still walking around, on suspension with pay, is unacceptable. Very unacceptable. That's all I have to say.
Q: People have been in the streets every day…
A: Every day. We're gonna be out here every day, until something happens. We're out here all week, even if next week I got to be out here by myself out here… because we need a change. It has to start somewhere. It definitely has to start somewhere. And if it has to start here in the community, then this is where it has to start.
Q: What do people go through with police every day?
A: Police every day, here, is they pull people over for petty stuff. You might see people come out the store with a loose cigarette, you're harassing them for that. They just don't have anything to do but to mess with people. There's a lot of innocent people getting hurt, for nothing. For nothing. What they need to do is leave everyone alone. Period. Just leave them alone.
Q: What do you think of the poster with the names and faces of people killed by police?
A: That's too many people. That's too many people that had gotten killed by the police. That's too many people. That's unacceptable. You'all supposed to be here, to protect us, not to harm us. And right now we're being harmed. So how are we supposed to look at police departments in any state, in any country? Because people not just getting hurt here, people are getting hurt everywhere.
Volunteers Needed... for revcom.us and Revolution
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.