'Mothers of the Movement' speak out
PHILADELPHIA — Ahead of their appearance Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, the mothers of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown spoke to Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric.
The three women — Gwen Carr, Sybrina Fulton and Lezley McSpadden — will appear onstage tonight at the Democratic National Convention, along with four other women who have lost children to gun violence or excessive use of force by police. They call themselves the “Mothers of the Movement.”
“Losing a child is the worst death that a human can endure,” says Fulton, Martin’s mother. “It’s an unstoppable pain. It’s a pain that we never get over. It’s a pain that we carry with us every single day.”
“We’ve learned to lean on each other, we’ve learned to confide in each other, and we get strength from each other,” says Carr, Garner’s mother.
The women told Couric that it was important for them to come to the DNC to represent their children. All had come to endorse Clinton at different times over the past year. Carr told Couric about meeting Clinton last November. “She took notes,” recalled Carr. “She listened. And at the end, she asked what do we think that she should do to help resolve these problems.”
“Why do I endorse her?” asked Carr. “She endorsed us first.”
“She has the necessary experience to get the job done,” says Fulton. “She understands the concepts. She understands politics. She’s been in politics for over 25 years. This is not something that’s new to her. This is not her first time in the White House.”
“She gets the walk of the average person. She might not be living the lifestyle of the average person,” Fulton says with a smile. “But she understands. She’s very relatable. She’s very compassionate. She’s very strong.”
At the Republican National Convention last week, presidential nominee Donald Trump evoked Ferguson, Mo., where McSpadden’s son was killed.
Said Trump: “Every action I take, I will ask myself: Does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson, who have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child America?”
Couric asked the women whether any thought Trump would be sympathetic to their cause. “Of course not,” replied McSpadden.
Brown’s death two years ago gave rise in large part to the Black Lives Matter movement. McSpadden says she can understand people who believe “all” lives matter, but doesn’t want the core message of the movement to be lost.
“We are black. And we have created black lives with the help of God. And they are important,” says McSpadden. “Everybody’s life matters to someone. But in this case, our kids — our sons’ — black lives matter. And right now we need people to pay attention to that.”
