Zaid Shakir – Stephon Clark Memorial Service- Call For Action And Unity

Today, we're gathered to memorialize and to subsequently burry, Stephon Clark, but yesterday was

Diablo and Shawn Bell and Trayvon Martin, Walter Scott, Gary King, Oscar Grant, Alan Blueford. Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Alton Sterling Philando Castile. Eric Gardner or, or it was Tanisha Anderson, Yvette Smith, Mira Mariam, Carrie Shelly Frey. danisha Harris, Alicia Thomas Chantal Davis rakia Rakaia boy are seven year seven year old. Hola, Jana Jones in Detroit, Michigan.

The community is rightfully paying, is rightfully angry, is rightfully frustrated to borrow from the poet because we built our coffins much too often, and we're tired of seeing our people die.

It's not just our people. Every year in this country, white folks are shot. Brown folks are shot 1000 upwards to 1000 people are shot by the police. That is a systemic problem, not a local problem. Not a sacramental problem. It's a uniquely American problem. And 71 years, one person in Ireland is suddenly one years was shot by the police. That's a uniquely American problem. And 24 years in the United Kingdom, and Wales combined. 55 people in 24 years was shot by the police upwards to 1000 in America every year. That is an American problem. It's a systemic problem, but it's also a problem of our hearts. Every one of us is our brother, our sister, black, brown, white, yellow, red. If you

have some polka dot people, there are brothers and sisters. We are human family and justice Stephon Clark when he came together with our sister Selena here, nations were brought together, religions were brought together when those two beautiful individuals came together. And that's a lesson for us that we can put aside all of this racial animosity, we can put aside the religious bigotry and prejudice and sectarianism. We can put aside our differences to come together as a human family to ensure that justice is done for Stephon Clark. that justice is gone for all of those people. We miss we miss them and we can be here all day listening. And we pray that as the Reverend Sharpton said we

fulfill our collective responsibility to his wife and his children to his mother and his grandmother to his siblings, that we can demonstrate that out of the most tragic and difficult situations. Great good can come soon.