Quotes from a hundred people impacted by police brutality
To know my brother
Is to love my brother.¹
You would never ever forget him—
His smile would strike you at your heart.²
She was very artistic, a culture-type of gal.
Wild. Outgoing. Articulate.³
She would give you the shirt off her back.
There is no other like her.⁴
She was just a ball of love. She was
The best person on the planet to me.⁵
Even with a broken heart,
She showed us what love should be.⁶
No one could ever do anything that would
Turn him away from being their friend—
He loved people.⁷
He had healing hands and was
Destined to be a spiritual leader.⁸
He was a human being who could
Transform his community, transform the world.
She just wanted to be great.
She wanted to grow up and be great.¹⁰
She was a beautiful person who left us
All too soon—at the tender age of eight.¹¹
She was God’s child.¹²
He didn’t get enough credit as a human being:
As a father, as a brother, as a son, as a friend.¹³
A kind soul who touched the lives of so many,
Leaving behind not only loving family and friends,
But also a legacy of warmth, resilience, and deep compassion.¹⁴
He was a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a cousin,
And a true friend—all that wiped away in just seconds.¹⁵
…
You promised me you wouldn’t kill me.¹⁶
He had just killed someone right before.¹⁷
I placed a phone call for my brother to get help—
Not for my brother to get lynched.¹⁸
Twelve bullets to kill one person.¹⁹
They didn’t announce themselves—
They just shot at kids.²⁰
A scene out of a horror film—
And it happened to our sister.²¹
What did the police see when they
Pried open that door? The look of fear?²²
Imagine watching your son’s last minutes of life,
And he’s dying, and they’re saying that he’s faking.²³
These guys murdered her
With malice, prejudice and bigotry.²⁴
My son was profiled, followed, and murdered—
And there was nothing accidental about that.²⁵
You took him to the prison to murder him.²⁶
The mentally ill come up against law enforcement
Instead of mental health professionals and end up dead.²⁷
Transgender women of color are stopped, harassed,
Assaulted and murdered by police with impunity.²⁸
He was a scholar whose dreams were cut short
By racial profiling and excessive police force.²⁹
His last act on this earth,
His last thought—was to help.³⁰
Someone with such light was
Taken out in such a dark way.³¹
…
Watch the tape:
I don’t understand
How that was protecting.³²
You don’t get her help by killing her.³³
At minimum, it shows a complete inability to be aware of
Your surroundings and to manage the situation appropriately.³⁴
You asked me whether I knew someone who
Wanted to hurt my daughter. But you did it.³⁵
Surrounding her as her spirit left her body—
And they were directly responsible.³⁶
If she broke the law …
I shouldn’t be making funeral arrangements.³⁷
He was shot 21 times and you got a paid vacation.
He got a body bag when he should have got a citation.³⁸
Patrick’s been dead for three years now,
But the cop that killed him is still out there …
Still doing what people that are alive do.³⁹
When I hear what happens,
I say: “Oh man, another one?”⁴⁰
So you’re telling me it’s OK for a black man
In America, good ‘ol America, to get murdered.⁴¹
My family went through the same troubles—
But nothing has changed.⁴²
…
I’m in pain. A lot of pain.⁴³
It cuts DEEP and sharp like a hot knife.⁴⁴
The wound never closes. It’s always open.⁴⁵
When you lose a child, a part of you goes.⁴⁶
Your mother is your everything. And that’s exactly
What the police took from us: our everything.⁴⁷
Our lives are split into before and after, and
We are left with a pain that does not fade.⁴⁸
It’s life altering shattering.⁴⁹
They took her out—she’s my heart.⁵⁰
The doctor told me I have a scar on my heart.⁵¹
He just had his whole life taken away from him.
We had our hearts pulled out of our chests.⁵²
The world moves on, the sun still shines—
While your heart lies exposed in a cold morgue
Or medical examiner’s office or cemetery.⁵³
It still feels like yesterday.⁵⁴
I wish I would have taken more pictures.⁵⁵
Nothing will bring him back. No.⁵⁶
I get no peace and I get no justice.⁵⁷
Will she have a proper funeral?⁵⁸
Give a sip to the dead.⁵⁹
Her baby deserve answers.⁶⁰
The answers would come from the person
Who’s no longer here to give them to us.⁶¹
I’ll have to take her skateboard to the grave,
So she can skate with the angels.⁶²
Every time I think your name,
Stars fall upon me.⁶³
…
I’m just disgusted with
These police officers on the loose.⁶⁴
Every time she sees a police officer,
She thinks they’re coming to get her.⁶⁵
The badge and the uniform
Is what scares our people.⁶⁶
They kill people. They kill people.
They kill people. Period. Point blank, period.⁶⁷
We’re being hunted every day. It’s a silent war.⁶⁸
She cried out what our ancestors
For 300-years-plus been crying out:
“Don’t shoot me, don’t kill me.”⁶⁹
I don’t want no apology
From no police:
It’s too late.⁷⁰
…
Our stories will be told!⁷¹
They need to feel what we feeling.⁷²
People mix forgiving and forgetting—
I forgive but I do not forget.⁷³
That she’s being noticed,
That she’s not been forgotten.⁷⁴
His name still reverberates
Throughout this country.⁷⁵
My child rescued people within a split second—
Look how long it’s taking America to rescue him.⁷⁶
What happened to my son—has now become my life.⁷⁷
This isn’t our occupation—this is our reality.⁷⁸
How many more lives must be lost
Before meaningful action is taken?⁷⁹
I have a fight in me.
I have a strength in me.⁸⁰
I don’t want to waste that energy
On building something negative.⁸¹
We have to organize to try and come up with
A way to stop this from ever happening again.⁸²
What’s in the dark is going to come to the light.
He is going to get his justice because it wasn’t right.⁸³
Stop this killing! Stop this killing! Stop this killing!⁸⁴
It’s like a genocide: it must stop
And only we can stop it.⁸⁵
…
Flesh is just that.
Your spirit still lives:
Your soul is everywhere.⁸⁶
You often said you were going to change
The world, which I believe you still will.⁸⁷
You will be the face of justice for many,
And you will save lives.⁸⁸
We must end the callous indifference to life
That pays no consideration to the human connections
Of family that we all have.⁸⁹
I’m gonna start loving people.
Because if those three men would’ve loved my boy,
He would’ve still been here alive today.⁹⁰
Dandelions don’t ask permission to grow:
They push through cracks in the sidewalk,
Through hard soil, through places
Where you don’t expect beauty.⁹¹
They shouldn’t be policing
Our communities anymore.⁹²
If our lives mattered in this country, we’d have
Equal access to decent jobs, good schools, affordable housing,
Clean air, clean water and real investment—those who routinely
Brutalize us wouldn’t be the ones paid with our tax dollars.⁹³
We pray that justice will be served,
And that they shut this jail down.⁹⁴
Tear the whole system apart
And start all over.⁹⁵
I want this day to be historic
For all the victims of the world.⁹⁶
We want to set a new benchmark
For what a human life is worth.⁹⁷
Knowing that you’re not allowing yourself to be
A willing victim anymore is such a good feeling:
That’s the reward for all of the pain
That we suffer at the hands of the system.⁹⁸
I don’t want to live the rest of my life saying,
“I hate you” … In my heart I am free.⁹⁹
You can murder a liberator, but
You can’t murder liberation. ¹⁰⁰
¹ Philonise, Brother of George Floyd
² Isaac, Father of Terrence Sterling
³ Shae, Sister of Aura Rosser
⁴ Anthony, Son of Yvette Smith
⁵ Malachi, Son of Sonya Massey
⁶ Floranda, Aunt of Loreal Tsingine
⁷ Leanna, Mother of Terence Crutcher
⁸ Sheneen, Mother of Elijah McClain
⁹ Patrisse, Cousin of Keenan Anderson
¹⁰ Ja’Niah, Sister of Ma’Khia Bryant
¹¹ Family of Fanta Bility
¹² Hazel, Mother of Duanna Johnson
¹³ Lora, Daughter of Rodney King
¹⁴ Family of Silverio Villegas Gonzales
¹⁵ Tony, Brother of Alfred Olango
¹⁶ Natasha McKenna
¹⁷ Brenda, Mother of Michael Ramos Jr.
¹⁸ Joseph, Brother of Daniel Prude
¹⁹ Margaret, Aunt of Darrius Kennedy
²⁰ Patricia, Mother of Charles Roundtree Jr.
²¹ Justin, Brother of Mary Brucato
²² Fran, Mother of Michelle Cusseaux
²³ Vickey, Mother of Derrick Scott
²⁴ Bernell, Cousin of Tyisha Miller
²⁵ Sybrina, Mother of Trayvon Martin
²⁶ Robert, Father of Robert Brooks
²⁷ Deborah Danner
²⁸ Maria, Sister of Kayla Moore
²⁹ Prince Jones Jr. Foundation
³⁰ Michael, Father of Alex Pretti
³¹ Angelina, Friend of Tyre Nichols
³² Maisha, Daughter of Marlene Pinnock
³³ Chelsei, Daughter of Pamela Turner
³⁴ Joshua, Brother of Justin Howell
³⁵ Tamika, Mother of Breonna Taylor
³⁶ Gina, Mother of India Kager
³⁷ Felecia, Mother of Alexia Christian
³⁸ Eric, Friend of Mario Woods
³⁹ Peter, Father of Patrick Lyoya
⁴⁰ William, Father of Sean Bell
⁴¹ Hertencia, Aunt of Akai Gurley
⁴² Shantel, Granddaughter of Eleanor Bumpers
⁴³ Rosann Miller
⁴⁴ Valarie, Sister of Miriam Carey
⁴⁵ Rodney, Brother of Walter Scott
⁴⁶ Odessa, Mother of David McAtee
⁴⁷ Latoya, Daughter of Bettie Jones
⁴⁸ Shawna, Sister of Andre Hill
⁴⁹ Rhanda, Mother of Korryn Gaines
⁵⁰ Mary, Grandmother of Gabriella Nevarez
⁵¹ Marcia, Mother of Manuel Ellis
⁵² Katie, Mother of Daunte Wright
⁵³ Family of Jordan Edwards
⁵⁴ Irma, Mother of Jamar Clark
⁵⁵ John, Father of John Crawford III
⁵⁶ Ernestine, Mother of Michael Laney
⁵⁷ Shirley, Mother of Kendra James
⁵⁸ Buttacup, Co-Worker of Mya Hall
⁵⁹ Jamel, Brother of Darryl Tyree Williams
⁶⁰ Traunda, Cousin of Sheneque Proctor
⁶¹ Sharon, Sister of Sandra Bland
⁶² Juan Pablo, Father of Valentina Orellana-Peralta
⁶³ Henry Dumas
⁶⁴ Samaria, Mother of Tamir Rice
⁶⁵ Ernest, Father of Salecia Johnson
⁶⁶ Michael, Father of Michael Brown Jr.
⁶⁷ Misha, Sister of Meagan Hockaday
⁶⁸ Valerie, Mother of Philando Castile
⁶⁹ Harold, Uncle of Shantel Davis
⁷⁰ Charles, Father of Aiyana Stanley-Jones
⁷¹ Madison, Daughter of Sharmel Edwards
⁷² Sharon, Mother of Shelly Frey
⁷³ Abner Louima
⁷⁴ Anita, Mother of Kyam Livingston
⁷⁵ Cephus, Uncle of Oscar Grant
⁷⁶ Chantimekki, Mother of Roger Fortson
⁷⁷ Michelle, Mother of Antwon Rose II
⁷⁸ Keandra, Sister of Jeremy McDole
⁷⁹ Marimar Martinez
⁸⁰ Vicky, Mother of India Beaty
⁸¹ Martinez, Brother of Rekia Boyd
⁸² Michelle, Sister of Timothy Russell
⁸³ Khalik, Son of Andrew Brown Jr.
⁸⁴ Veda, Aunt of Alton Sterling
⁸⁵ Patricia, Grandmother of Jacob Blake
⁸⁶ DaShonda, Partner of Samuel DuBose
⁸⁷ Yolanda, Mother of Atatiana Jefferson
⁸⁸ Andre, Father of Amir Locke
⁸⁹ Family of Teresa Gomez
⁹⁰ Marcus Father of Ahmaud Arbery
⁹¹ Brent, Brother of Renee Good
⁹² Robert, Brother of Joseph Mann
⁹³ Erica, Daughter of Eric Garner
⁹⁴ James, Father of Jamel Floyd
⁹⁵ Amy, Mother of Jamal Sutherland
⁹⁶ Kadiatou, Mother of Amadou Diallo
⁹⁷ John, Father of Justine Ruszczyk Damond
⁹⁸ Ramona Africa
⁹⁹ Brandt, Brother of Botham Jean
¹⁰⁰ Fred Hampton