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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray Deliver Remarks at Memorial for George Floyd

June 4, 2020

First Lady Chirlane McCray: No justice – power to the people! First, I want to offer condolences to Terrance Floyd and the whole Floyd family. Please let’s all thank him for being here with us today.

[Applause]

No family should have to endure what this family has endured. Our country is in need of a rebirth and birth is painful. Millions of mothers – millions of mothers like me, share fear for the lives of our children. We fear for their lives and we also fear for their ability to live with dignity.

[Applause]

There is no one here that wants us to go back to things the way they were, do we?

Audience: No!

First Lady McCray: Do we?

Audience: No!

First Lady McCray: Do we?

Audience: No!

First Lady McCray: I don’t want that. We have so much we need to do going forward, but we have the power. Look at all of you, look at all of us.

[Applause]

We are making a statement today. We are making a statement every day that we stand out and shout and protest and march. We have power we have – we didn’t even know we had. Black lives matter! Black lives matter! Black lives Matter!

Audience: Black lives matter! Black Lives matter! Black lives matter!

First Lady McCray: And we cannot, I say we cannot turn away from this pain, the trauma, the anger. We need to challenge that, all of that, into creating the kind of world we need. The kind of world we want. The kind of world we deserve. Can we do that together?

Audience: Yes!

First Lady McCray: I said can we do that? I don’t hear you, I don’t hear you. Can we do it? Where is the energy? Alright. Alright. We’re going to hear from my partner, my partner in all things. And I ask you to give him the same respect that you’ve given me. Thank you.

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Reverend McCall, thank you for your leadership. Thank you for bringing us together. Thank you to everyone who organized. Terrance to you and the Floyd family, God bless you. God bless you. To everybody, here is what we must resolve – George Floyd cannot have been allowed to die in vain. We have to make a change in this city and this country. I thank you. I thank you for being here for change, to build a change. But let me tell something, for all of us who have not walked a mile in the shoes of the black community or communities of color, for all of us who know white privilege, we need to do more because we don’t even fully recognize the daily pain that the racism in this society causes. We need to do more. We will. So, it will not be about words in this city, it will be about change – change in the NYPD. It will be about change that you can see and believe, because you will see it with your own eyes. That’s what we must make. Anything short of that is not enough.

We will make peaceful change in this city once and for all. Keep fighting for that change. To the Floyd family, we stand with you. Black lives matter in New York City. Black lives need to matter in America. Thank you to the Floyd family and God bless you.

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