Prior to being elected to congress, she served on the bostons city council for eight years and was the first woman of color elected to the council in its 100 year history. Please welcome congresswoman ayanna pressley. E] rep. Ressley today, i am thinking of the ancestors, not just the ones recorded in our history books, but those omitted from the pages. The freedom riders, the organizers, the community builders. Every loved one passed a brownbag lunch. Lunch, read a freedom song, set up a prayer. Sacrifice and selfdetermination shaped history and brought us to this moment. The truth of the matter is we are because of them. We are black with a capital b. We are the manifestation of the movement. We are and cultural proud blacks. If my granddaddy the reverend e. James echols were here, he would whisper in my ear and say baby, make it play. I intend to do just that, make it play area we are in unprecedented and uncertain times. We are challenged by the state of the nation and the crisis we face, but the state of our movement is strong. Another world is possible. It is possible to legislate justice and accountability. People over profit, joy over trauma fear. It is possible to write budgets that lives. If it feels unfamiliar, that is because it has never been done in america. We w moment. We will work towards a feeling justice and collective liberation like our lives depend onhey do. We will march on, clear in our conviction, rooted in our faith grounded in our history intentional as we build. Let me make it play. Black lives matter. [applause] our next speaker is representative adriano espaillat. He probably represents new yorks 13th Congressional District elected in 2016. He is serving his second term in congress where he served as a member of the influential House Foreign Affairs committee, the committee on infrastructure, and the Small Businesses committee. Throughout his career the congressman has been a vocal advocate for protecting tenants improving schools and making serious Smart Investments in economic development, job creation environmental protection. He served as a new york state senator during which he represented the neighborhoods of marble hills inwood, Washington Heights, hamilton heights, west harlem, hells kitchen, clinton and jesse. Welcome adriano espaillat. [applause] good morning, everybody. Thank you, reverend al sharpton. Thank you, National Action network. Thank you all, for being here on this great mall. I bring you greetings from harlem, the capital of the african day as for African Diaspora in the world. The launching pad of the latino experience in new york state immigrant Washington Heights hamilton heights, it would and workingclass northwest bronx. 50 years ago the great Martin Luther king jr. And john lewis stood here and shared their dreams with all of you. Today as the first formally undocumented member of congress i stand here with you today to say that yes i am a man. Yes, we shall overcome. Yes, si se puede. Guess, black lives matter, and without justice, there will be no peace. We come here today bearing the scars and wounds of 400 years of struggle to say that whether your ancestors picked cotton or whether they cut sugarcane, we are all in the same boat right now. We legislation to ensure that there is police reform. We pieces of legislation highlighted in the rl harlem manifesto included in the George Floyd Justice in policing act. Lets get rid of the chokehold. Lets get rid of disease. We also must pass the john lewis voters rights advancement act to make sure we are all able to vote. We must enact criminal justice reform. Lets do away with the death penalty. Lets do away with sanitary confinement solitary confinement. Lets do away with minimums. We shall overcome. Si se puede. No justice, no peace, and black lives matter. God bless you, and keep the faith. [applause] representative charles booker, a 36yearold state legislator born in kentucky. He successfully ran for state house in kentucky in 2018, becoming the youngest africanamerican in the house in more than 90 years were he felt fought for common sense reform, Border Protection and restoration in support of labor unions for Economic Justice against Racial Injustice and more. He reprinted recently founded put to the hauler, a 501 c four that captured the energy work on power, work on foot or registration and more and to help transform our future. Please welcome representative charles booker. [applause and cheers] we stand here and the legacy of the dream. The dream that dr. King lifted up, that Whitney Young push for that mary jones fought for, that my granddad demanded. We are here today because we know that dream is not d. Although they marched for us then the cries we are hearing across the country right now from kenosha to kentucky, from the hood where i am from to the island, to everywhere in between, those cries let us know we have more marching to do. It is in this moment where we must rise up together. Because listen, we are built for this moment. We are on the shoulders of giants, but we must step off of those and lead ourselves. We are the dream, but we must turn that dream into demand, demands for real justice. Demand for humanity. Demand for an end to poverty. The youngest black state legislator in the first one, i did stand up to run against Mitch Mcconnell, and i am a personal witness that we are ready for this moment. We are built for the work we must do. And if we come together, all of us, if we stand united, if we march together, if we bend that arch together, theres nothere is no mountain we cant move, and there is no roof of racism we cannot pull up. So we got to do it right now. We got to do it yesterday so we definitely got to do it now. I stand here as a young man in the legacy of a giant, congressman john lewis, who said 57 years ago some words that ring true now. We have to lift our voices together and say to america, wake up. Wake up, america. Because we cant stop, we cant quit, and we cannot be patient. Lets win together, lets fight together. Lets transform our future. [chanting no justice, no peace] ebonie next we have the National Director of youth and College Engagement and is a policy advisor for the National Action network. [applause and cheers] a recent graduate of North Carolina anc state university. He is a proud member of phi beta sigma, the eta chapter, and hopes to one day serve as a legislator on the hill. Please welcome him. [applause] i give honor to the conveners, my mentor rev. Al sharpton, and Martin Luther king iii. I also want to recognize the Young Leaders standing behind me. [applause and cheers] we find ourselves here in the spirit of john lewis, making good trouble, necessary trouble, because the soul of our democracy is depending on it. We are not here to ask for justice. We are not here to negotiate justice. We are here to demand justice. [applause and cheers] far too many times we have been been budgeted out, counted out, resourced out. It is time to invest in education. It is time for legislators to invest in Mental Health services. It is time to invest in community. Storically black colleges and universities. [applause and cheers] because we deserve. We dont deserve just a half a dollar. We deserve the whole dollar. We deserve the whole dollar. [applause] dr. King talked about the checks that bounced in the bank of justice. We have come to let the teller know at the bank that this check better nbecause we will march, and we will fight, because that is what we deserve. In the words of dr. King in closing, and again its time to , cash the check to demand the riches of freedom, and security and justice. , no justice. No peace. [applause] [chanting no justice, noace] [chanting black lives matter] i hear you back there. No justice. No peace. No justice. No peace. Next up, our speaker, as someone who has experienced the promise of the american dream, she has devoted her career in Public Service to opening the doors of that dream to millions of american families. As a key figure in the latino community, she continues this mission as president and ceo in unite us u. S. , and Advocacy Organization in the u. S. Welcome her to the stage. [applause] hello. Hola. Hello. My name is janet, i am president and ceo of unidos u. S. , the largest latino civil rights and Advocacy Organization in the country. I want to tell you why i am here. I am here because we have stood and always will stand with reverend sharpton and Martin Luther king iii, and our brothers and sisters in the black community until systemic and institutional racism in our society is era i am here because 25 of my community is afrolatino. So we dont just empathize, we identify with the black community. I am here because we need lawenforcement to get their knees off the next of our black and latinx young men. I am her seen in kenosha, wisconsin this week, a man shot in the back and paralyzed, Peaceful Protesters shot and killed by White Nationalist vigilantes as the police have turned a blind eye and silence from the man who holds the highest office in the land. That is immoral and unacceptable. I am here because our community ies communities are bearing the brunt of a pandemic in lives and livelihoods which is only getting worse. Ave in common what we have in common is far greater than what divides us. As dr. Martin luther king, jr. Wrote to cesar chavez in 1966, our separate struggles are really one, a struggle for freedom, for dignity, and humanity. I am here because we must support the young people of every background here as they rise up, make their voices heard, and tell those of their generation about the america that they want to see. Because we must reject bigotry and hate, and insist that our and the values that we share. I am here because i am standing on the shoulders of giants, like congressman john lewis, to say your fight is my fight, tu lucha es mi lucha. I am here because black lives matter. [applause] si se puede muchas gracias [chanting black lives matter] ebonie up next we have reverend dr. Richardson, who serves on the board of several corporations and National Organizations and is currently chairman of the board for the National Action network. Reverend richardson is pastor of the Historic Grace Baptist Church in mount vernon, new york. He leads the largest africanamerican church in Westchester County with a base of over 3000 parishioners. Despite the interaction with u. S. President s and heads of state, he has made sure to use the power of the pulpit to lift up local issues in the mount vernon area and nationwide. Dr. Richardson believes that grace must be at the vanguard of liberation and the empowerment of africanamerican people through our christian faith. Please welcome reverend dr. Franklin richardson. [applause] noon. Lets give ourselves a celebration. Lookut in the midst of a pandemic. In the midst of all that is going on. This is important to us. We lay ourselves on the line because this is important. On behalf of the members of the board of National Action network, i want to thank all of the organizations who have collaborated with us to bring this to pass. R president , rev. Al sharpton, and Martin Luther king iii, having convened us together. The speeches and the rhetoric of the moment will be meaningless if we do not leave here and get involved and fight the fight and vote and encourage those who are not. We are at a crossroads in american history. We are at the intersection of perish or promise. If we fail to deliver in november, we will perish. If we fail to bring out our votes, we will not enjoy what we have struggled from. We are at a moment when all we have fought for, all our forefathers and mothers have died for is at risk of being lost. Blood has been shed for our freedoms and we cannot parish. We must stand up. We must fight. We must engage every resource we have. We still believe in americas promise, not only while we are on the precipice of perishing, but also realizing the promise. The promise is a nation where yellow, red, male, female, lgbt, every dimension of our humanity is in the promise of the great america. I challenge us all to believe in a better day, to make the sacrifices, to make sure we go back to our cities and knock on doors and call our friends. Because this will be a sham if we fail to bring out the votes on november 3. This will be mockery if we do not deliver ourselves to the polls. This will be a disgrace if we fail to engage our resources to deliver on our behalf and our forefathers and mothers will turn over in their graves if we fail to deliver in this moment. God bless you. Lets go. Lets get this done. We are able. We are powerful. Use the code thats on the screen that talks about the black church. 75 votes. All of us must be engaged. God bless you, and i look to see you in the near future at the victory celebration. God bless you. [applause] [crowd chanting hands up, dont shoo ebonie please welcome maya berry. Maya you guys look amazing. Rev. Al sharpton, Martin Luther king iii, thank you for your leadership area to the National Action network, thank you for convening us today. To the families who lost loved ones to racist violence, i am so sorry for the pain you have been forced to endure. I am humbled to stand and march alongside of you today and every day. My name is maya berry, the executive director of the arab american institute. On behalf of 3. 7 million arab americans, i stand with you in defense of black lives. We do so because it is right and regrettably because it is necessary to declare that black lives matter. We do so because we understand that until the killing of black men, women, and children stop, until systematic racism and antiblackness is addressed, the america we all desire cannot be realized. For each life taken, each family destroyed, each neighborhood brutally patrolled, and for each protester taking to the streets to demand that all of this stop, targeted by the same system of policing, justice will not be served by reforming tactics or trainings. Here is a simple truth. Its been 168 days since Breonna Taylor was killed in her own home. No charges have been filed. The system is not broken. It is working as it was designed. And we must change it. Today we must recommit to defend black lives, to End Police Brutality and the racist system that upholds it. We must fight Voter Suppression and the impact of a politicized decennial census like we have never seen. Just as the 1953 march and the mess demonstrations across the country the mass demonstrations across the country suffers act, we must not step off until we have secured the passage of the john lewis Voting Rights act, and the George Floyd Justice in policing act. Just as matter is the minimum these legislative priorities must be where we start. Thank you. [applause] ebonie please welcome to the stage dr. Jamal bryant visionary Civil Rights Activist and community organizer. He combines sound biblical teachings, business acumen, and political insight to propel the body of christ to action and greater levels of faith. His abilities toeach across social, economic, and political barriers has helped people not only experience the lifechanging gospel of jesus christ, but to activate success in their everyday lives. His ministry has become an incubator for entrepreneurs, homeowners, and he is a pastor in georgia. Please welcome dr. Jamal bryant. [applause] dr. Bryant to our organizer and visionary, rev. Al sharpton, we thank him for his courage and his faith as well as his commitment to civil rights down through the years. Brothers and sisters, not sinced Julius Brutus led 59 caesar in the back has there been such a crime as the slaying of jacob blake. Seven times they shot him in the back. Jacob finds himself paralyzed from the waist down. Dr. King said we as a people should not find ourselves caught in the paralysis of analysis. In other words, are coming our coming together is in vain if we just talk about the problems but dont chart a course towards the solution. Harriet tubman said, i freed thousands of slaves, but i would have freed hundreds more had they known they were slaves. I only thought about that when i saw the slaves on tv this week endorsing donald trump. [cheers] if only they knew they were slaves, they could have been rendered free. We cannot remain paralyzed. We cannot be paralyzed wondering whether or not we are going to support the very first black female Vice President in the United States. Dont tell me about what it is she did in the past and not talk about what she wants to do in america in the future. She wants to make sure we get rid of privatized prisons. That there are no more mandatory minimums. And marijuana is no longer an illegal substance. We cannot be paralyzed knowing she graduated just a few miles from here, from the original h. U. Those of us who are products of hbcus, you ought to be making noise right now. [cheers] we cannot be paralyzed. We cannot allow white evangelicals to paralyze us. Saying that they cannot support our agenda because they are prolife. Dont tell me you are prolife and white evangelicals are silent when black people are dying in the streets like dogs. We cannot be paralyzed. The black church. Saying that you are not going to because of thre