Already on the verge of tears, a young black girl named Zianna Oliphant addressed the audience at a City Council meeting in Charlotte on Monday (September 26).
The topic was the major problem of police shootings around the nation. This comes just six days after Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by a police officer that was caught on tape. The city of Charlotte has been protesting in support of Scott’s family and the unjust killings of black men at the hands of police officers all over the country. The Charlotte community has been highly emotional over this tragic event for the past week, forcing the mayor to enforce a curfew when it became violent.
Zianna was so overcome with emotion at one point that she had to take a brief moment to gather herself. With encouraging cheers from a room full of Charlotte residents, she then speaks directly from her heart about what’s been going on. “We are black people and we shouldn’t have to feel like this. We shouldn’t have to protest because ya’ll are treating us wrong.” As she speaks from the podium, with tears streaming down her face, this ten-year-old girl spoke words we as a country needed to hear. For such a young girl, she spoke so eloquently and sounded wise beyond her years.
“It’s a shame that our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t even see them anymore. It’s a shame that we have to go to their graveyard and bury them. And we have tears, and we shouldn’t have tears.”
This goes to show that these horrible killings have an effect on all of us no matter how old we are. Zianna ends her speech to a standing ovation from the room who no doubt agreed with every sentiment she shared.
