Human Rights Campaign Alphonso David on MSNBC: “Pride Month has its roots in the struggle in protest”
David: “Because of police brutality we now have the LGBTQ civil rights movement. So there is value to protest.”
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From the June 1, 2020, edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:
MIKA BRZEZINSKI (HOST): Looking over the past three or four days of the violence, there is a separation, would you agree, that needs to be made between the crimes that are being committed and the anger and the frustration that needs to be validated?
ALPHONSO DAVID (PRESIDENT, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN): Yes. There is a difference to acknowledge here. But the starting point for us, we have lost George Floyd. We have lost Breonna Taylor. We've lost Ahmaud Arbery. We've lost Nina Pop, and we have lost countless other names and faces because of racism and indifference. Many who we don't know because there was no camera. There was no video recorder. So I personally want to extend my condolences to all those families who have lost their sons, and their daughters, and their loved ones. And there is a difference between what -- how people are expressing their rage, and what happened to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. But at its core is racism. At its core is indifference. And we need to come together as a country and come up with meaningful solutions. We are celebrating Pride Month starting today. But we have to also remember that Pride Month has its roots in the struggle in protest. People were stricken at Stonewall. Because of police brutality, we now have the LGBTQ civil rights movement. So there is value to protest. There is value to peaceful protesting. Especially when we are trying to avenge the lives that we have lost. And it is not lost on me that, you know, you can't bring back George Floyd. You can't bring back Nina Pop. And so that's what people in the streets are talking about. They're trying to avenge their lives.