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Amy Goodman

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

Web ExclusiveSeptember 28, 2016
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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.”

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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.

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“We Southernized Dr. King”: Historian Jeanne Theoharis on MLK’s Struggle Against Racism in the North

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