You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

WATCH: 9-Year-Old Girl’s Testimony About Police Killings in Charlotte Goes Viral

Web ExclusiveSeptember 28, 2016
Media Options

A nine-year-old girl’s testimony at a City Council meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, about police brutality has gone viral, as protests continue over the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. “I’ve been born and raised in Charlotte, and I’ve never felt this way ’til now,” said Zianna Oliphant. “And I can’t stand how we’re treated. 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 the graveyard and bury them. And we have tears, and we shouldn’t have tears. We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side.”

Related Story

Web ExclusiveFeb 22, 2024Ben Crump: Houston Police Shoot Eboni Pouncy in Friend’s Apartment in Case Compared to Breonna Taylor
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: A nine-year-old girl’s testimony at a City Council meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, about police brutality has gone viral, as protests continue over the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. This is Zianna Oliphant.

ZIANNA OLIPHANT: I come here today to talk about how I feel. And I feel like that we are treated differently than other people, and I don’t like how we’re treated. And just because of our color doesn’t mean anything to me. I believe that—

SUPPORTER 1: You’re doing great. You’re doing a great job.

SUPPORTER 2: Stop the clock. Stop the clock.

SUPPORTER 3: And don’t stop. Do not stop!

ZIANNA OLIPHANT: We are black people, and we shouldn’t have to feel like this. We shouldn’t have to protest because y’all are treating us wrong. We do this because we need to and have right.

SUPPORTER 1: Go ahead. Go ahead. Let her—let her talk. Go ahead.

ZIANNA OLIPHANT: I’ve been born and raised in Charlotte, and I’ve never felt this way 'til now. And I can't stand how we’re treated. 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 the graveyard and bury them. And we have tears, and we shouldn’t have tears. We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Up Next

Ben Crump: Houston Police Shoot Eboni Pouncy in Friend’s Apartment in Case Compared to Breonna Taylor

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top