“I come here today to talk about how I feel,” began Zianna Oliphant at a Charlotte citizens’ forum on Monday. The young girl was one of many who attended the gathering hosted by Charlotte’s City Council. In the week since the death of Keith Lamont Scott, a black man who was shot by police in Charlotte, the city has been embroiled in protests. Newly released video appears to support claims that Scott was not behaving in a threatening manner in the moments leading up to his death.
Through tears, Oliphant continued her speech saying: “We are black people and we shouldn’t have to feel like this.” Adding: “It’s a shame that our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t even see them anymore. It’s a shame that we have to go to their graveyard and bury them. We have tears and we shouldn’t have tears. We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side.”
As her time on the podium drew to a close, the room erupted in applause and some chanted: “No justice, no peace.”
