The Rev. Al Sharpton says the Commitment March is not just about demonstrating, but about passing federal legislation
On Friday, the Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking at the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks, said the reason behind the march was not just about protesting, but also to pass legislation like the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Video Transcript
REV AL SHARPTON: Why are we in Washington? I've talked with one of the leading minds of our nation, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. And he told me that Reverend Al, you gotta understand that until there's federal legislation, every state will do what it wants to do. We have passed in the House of Representatives the George Floyd Policing And Justice Act.
- Yeah.
REV AL SHARPTON: Now, we need to pass that act in the Senate. We need Mitch McConnell and the US Senate to meet on the George Floyd Policing And Justice Act or we're going to meet you senators at the poll in November 3, whether we got the mail in, walk in, ride in, crawl in, we want our bill passed.
[APPLAUSE]
Several weeks ago, John Lewis an outstanding congressman, made his transition. Last time Martin and I we're here, he was with us, John Lewis. He and Reverend Hosea Williams, and Amelia Boykin were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Tear gassed, that led to the Selma to Montgomery March that got us the right to vote. And that right lasted till 2013 when they took, and gutted out the middle of that bill, taken away.
The map, when we come to Washington, saying how do you memorialize John Lewis, and allow the bill that he stood for us to die? We want the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill for the Congress.
[APPLAUSE]
So we didn't just come today to have a show. Demonstration without legislation would not lead to change. We didn't come out and stand in this heat because we didn't have nothing to do. We come to let you know if we will come out by these numbers in the heat, and stand in the heat, that we will stand in the polls, all day long.
[APPLAUSE]
