I look out at the sea of ancestors, giving me all their energy and support. I look to the side. I see my family, friends, and my community. I am not alone. And even if none of those people were here, I would still have someone, because my mom is here too. I know she is because I can feel her guiding hand on my shoulder.

Getti . . . all they need to hear from you is the truth, she whispers softly in my ear.

I exhale and walk to the podium. The crowd goes silent. I begin to speak.

“It’s been almost six weeks since my mother stood on this very spot and asked the city of New York a question: How much? How much will we have to pay to finally be treated equally in this city, in this country? It is because of that question that she lies in the hospital, fighting for her life.

“My mom is my entire heart. Those two cops clawed right through my chest and ripped her away from me. They left a bloody, gaping wound where a heart once lived. It sent me into a hole so dark that I couldn’t conceive of a time when there was light. But the people of Harlem would not let me stay in darkness. They reached out and reminded me of something I had forgotten:

“I am my mother’s daughter.

“In this struggle for equality, my mother sometimes stumbled, faltered, and fell, but she never allowed herself to stay down. She never gave up. She never compromised. And she never allowed the system to break her will.

“I am my mother’s daughter.

“There should not be any Black people left in this country, for all we’ve faced. We’ve been betrayed, beaten, and burned. We’ve been enslaved, entrapped, and entombed inside a system that was created with one purpose: keep us down, at all costs.

“They plucked olive branches and handed them to us, branches from the very trees they use to lynch us. Our bodies cooked under the glare of their hatred; our minds softened and our souls shriveled into nothing. So how is it there are still Black people left in this country?

“Our ancestors.

“They didn’t stop when the whip cut into their backs or when the dogs bit into their flesh. They didn’t stop for water hoses, Klan rallies, and tear gas. What right do we have to consider giving up, even for a moment?

“My mother reminded me every day about where I came from. She did that because she knew there were people out there praying I’d forget. And I will admit it, I did. I forgot for a long time just what badasses the ones who came before us were. But I remember now. And I am here to remind you.