00:00:14.610 --> 00:00:15.440
Three.

00:00:56.010 --> 00:01:00.810
Some people that call me Eric Garner's
mother and some people call me Gwyn car.

00:01:06.360 --> 00:01:11.310
There's no sense in someone else telling
it and you being an extra in your own

00:01:11.310 --> 00:01:12.140
story

00:01:14.740 --> 00:01:19.740
and the only way to do that was for
me to get out there and speak his

00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:20.570
name.

00:01:58.250 --> 00:02:01.350
They are my greatest
memories. These photos,

00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:06.800
I focus on them

00:02:10.670 --> 00:02:12.450
on the good memories,

00:02:14.610 --> 00:02:16.170
the past memories,

00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:24.480
the things that we've done
together that remind me of the good

00:02:24.480 --> 00:02:28.140
days. I meditate. Sometimes

00:02:30.510 --> 00:02:33.660
I sit back reminisce.

00:02:36.510 --> 00:02:39.840
I do draw a sense of
strength from the photos.

00:02:41.010 --> 00:02:45.900
It helps me to reflect back
on yesterday and it helps

00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:50.760
me to come to grips with even the tragics

00:02:50.760 --> 00:02:54.630
that has happened since
these photos has been taken.

00:02:58.140 --> 00:03:02.980
I have a of comfort when
I have these photos to

00:03:02.980 --> 00:03:05.080
look at on a daily basis.

00:03:21.850 --> 00:03:25.900
I was born 19 and 49
in Brooklyn, New York.

00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:30.760
My father became a minister.

00:03:31.660 --> 00:03:33.790
He was a pretty strict,

00:03:33.880 --> 00:03:38.200
straightforward person and he
used to always use the phrase,

00:03:38.470 --> 00:03:43.060
you have to respect yourself
before anyone else can respect you.

00:03:43.450 --> 00:03:48.280
So we grew up with pretty
good values because he

00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.770
used to teach us the way to go.

00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:56.260
A parent only could lay the foundation.
The child has to build a house,

00:03:57.220 --> 00:04:00.940
and I think he laid a pretty
good foundation for us.

00:04:01.420 --> 00:04:05.590
I met Eric's father long
before him and I got together.

00:04:06.070 --> 00:04:10.960
We lived on the same street, but
when we actually got together,

00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:12.610
I was 18 years old.

00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:16.000
I was with him until he died.

00:04:17.770 --> 00:04:22.240
He had high blood pressure,
he had a stroke and he died.

00:04:29.450 --> 00:04:34.360
I was widowed at the age
of 27 with three young

00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:39.130
kids and I had to learn how to get along

00:04:39.130 --> 00:04:40.480
all by myself,

00:04:41.260 --> 00:04:45.490
so I just made a decision
that I was going to get up.

00:04:45.850 --> 00:04:47.920
I was going to focus on their future,

00:04:48.430 --> 00:04:52.150
and that's what encouraged
me to go to college.

00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.440
I worked for New York City
Transit Authority for 23 years.

00:05:00.130 --> 00:05:02.320
I started there as a conductor.

00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:07.000
I later on got a promotion
to train operator.

00:05:08.770 --> 00:05:13.630
I remember one day there had been a
track fire and there was a guy fussing

00:05:13.630 --> 00:05:18.100
about the train being late and he
says, oh, no wonder the train is late.

00:05:18.730 --> 00:05:22.000
It's a woman operating a
train. It shouldn't be late.

00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:26.860
I pay your salary. I got annoyed with him,

00:05:26.860 --> 00:05:28.960
so I just sat back to him.

00:05:30.340 --> 00:05:35.020
I pay your salary too because
sometimes I eat at McDonald's.

00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:40.240
So he looked at me and he just turned
red and he just walked away from

00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:44.620
the train. So it's taking me so long, man.

00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:47.440
I'm ready to eat other, you should
have came and fixed it yourself.

00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.890
The first time I actually
met Ben was back in 78,

00:05:51.280 --> 00:05:53.680
but then we hadn't seen
each other for years.

00:05:56.380 --> 00:05:59.060
We would talk and we would
talk all the time on the phone,

00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:03.320
I guess reminiscent about old
times, so he came to New York.

00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:07.100
We got married up here in New York.

00:06:10.130 --> 00:06:14.210
I always took composites of my kids.
I always had the photographer come in.

00:06:14.570 --> 00:06:18.080
It's just such a great thing
to have to look back on

00:06:19.610 --> 00:06:22.610
the memories of your children
when they were that age,

00:06:22.640 --> 00:06:27.200
because when they grow up sometime
you can't even imagine them being that

00:06:27.200 --> 00:06:28.030
small.

00:06:30.470 --> 00:06:33.590
This is Eric graduating from high school.

00:06:34.220 --> 00:06:38.990
He was so proud of his self, had
on his tuxedo and was glowing,

00:06:38.990 --> 00:06:41.060
but he wasn't glowing more than I was.

00:06:41.060 --> 00:06:43.580
I was really glowing that
day that he graduated.

00:06:45.260 --> 00:06:49.820
I'm proud of all my children and
every time they reached a milestone,

00:06:49.820 --> 00:06:52.220
it just warmed my heart.

00:06:55.550 --> 00:06:57.020
My father was my rock.

00:06:57.890 --> 00:07:01.610
In January of 1996,

00:07:01.700 --> 00:07:03.770
he had a massive heart attack.

00:07:06.290 --> 00:07:10.040
Then at the end of the year,
that's when I lost my son,

00:07:12.350 --> 00:07:15.890
Emery. Went on vacation up in Troy,

00:07:15.890 --> 00:07:19.220
New York and was robbed and murdered.

00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:25.970
I see Eric in front of my door,

00:07:26.630 --> 00:07:29.540
so he just says, oh, I just
came to be with you, mom.

00:07:32.960 --> 00:07:36.110
I walk in my house now
I see all my relatives.

00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:40.880
Now I know something is wrong.

00:07:42.380 --> 00:07:44.810
And then they told me Emory is dead.

00:07:48.020 --> 00:07:51.500
Oh, I shut down. For a
long time after that,

00:07:54.050 --> 00:07:57.920
it was just the start
of a horrible nightmare.

00:08:17.270 --> 00:08:21.320
I was operating a train from
Coney Island to Astoria.

00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:25.880
My phone just keep on ringing. I said,
why is everybody keep calling me?

00:08:26.750 --> 00:08:28.580
When I got back to Coney Island,

00:08:29.330 --> 00:08:33.830
my husband was in the dispatcher's
office and when we get downstairs,

00:08:34.070 --> 00:08:38.930
he suddenly just broke down
and told me that Eric was

00:08:38.930 --> 00:08:42.740
no longer with us. I just had a fit.

00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.300
I tried to kick the window shield out.

00:08:47.300 --> 00:08:51.950
I tried to get out the car because
I felt like if I could get out the

00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:54.980
car, I could run to Staten Island faster.

00:08:55.380 --> 00:09:00.030
Then that car could take
me and when I got there,

00:09:00.090 --> 00:09:03.870
I didn't know how Eric was
killed, why he was killed.

00:09:03.870 --> 00:09:06.480
All I know that they told me
my son was no longer there.

00:09:08.550 --> 00:09:09.690
To this very day,

00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:13.770
I have never watched that
video in its entirety.

00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:18.900
I was very angry.

00:09:18.900 --> 00:09:23.580
I was very bitter at the
way they had taken his life.

00:09:23.670 --> 00:09:25.890
I was in a dark place.

00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:31.140
I didn't want to get up. I
wanted to lay in the bed.

00:09:31.140 --> 00:09:32.700
I want to draw the curtains.

00:09:34.050 --> 00:09:38.880
It's not a good place to be
when you start reliving the

00:09:39.030 --> 00:09:43.620
anger because I didn't think
that I could handle this again.

00:09:50.290 --> 00:09:52.470
Until the killing of black men,

00:09:53.070 --> 00:09:56.980
black mother son becomes as important

00:09:57.920 --> 00:10:01.320
to the rest of the country as the
killing of a white mother son.

00:10:03.640 --> 00:10:08.020
We who believe in freedom
cannot rest until this happens.

00:10:09.780 --> 00:10:14.620
I can't breathe. I can't
breathe. I can't breathe.

00:10:15.820 --> 00:10:16.700
I can't breathe.

00:10:17.640 --> 00:10:21.300
The protests are going larger
and spreading across the country.

00:10:21.750 --> 00:10:25.470
Hundreds shut down major
highways in multiple cities.

00:10:26.430 --> 00:10:30.900
Police officers failed us New
Yorkers because they let an innocent

00:10:30.900 --> 00:10:35.130
man die, beg for his life,
fight for his last breath.

00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:45.540
Like so many New Yorkers,

00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.900
I was very troubled by the video.

00:10:48.990 --> 00:10:53.640
This incident was a tragedy. There
will be a very thorough investigation.

00:10:54.540 --> 00:10:59.430
There was about four officers
who pounced on Eric that

00:10:59.520 --> 00:11:01.680
caused chest compressions.

00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:06.810
There were officers who stood by and
did nothing to help deescalate the

00:11:06.810 --> 00:11:09.180
situation. And far as I'm concerned,

00:11:09.180 --> 00:11:13.830
they all were directly involved and I
want all of them to stand accountable.

00:11:14.760 --> 00:11:17.670
His death was ruled a homicide
by the medical examiner,

00:11:17.970 --> 00:11:21.510
but the grand jury choosing
not to indict Officer Pantaleo.

00:11:31.250 --> 00:11:32.340
Well, I was hurt by it.

00:11:32.790 --> 00:11:36.270
Have you talked to the lawyers a
little bit about where this Well,

00:11:36.270 --> 00:11:37.290
the Fed is going to take over.

00:11:38.160 --> 00:11:43.140
I knew I had to get out there because
I wanted to keep my son's memory

00:11:43.140 --> 00:11:48.030
alive. I want to keep his
name alive. Enough is enough.

00:11:49.590 --> 00:11:53.560
We we're losing our family
members. Eric. We're Eric.

00:11:54.070 --> 00:11:56.880
I'll do it my way. We're

00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:01.480
my son and others are gone,

00:12:01.660 --> 00:12:06.520
but we have the unborn to save
the grandchildren, the nephews.

00:12:08.350 --> 00:12:11.640
It's for the mother.

00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:17.680
We have to protect the children together
and the way we protect them is through

00:12:17.680 --> 00:12:19.240
each other, through communities.

00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:24.700
No one should look at these
incidents as a news story.

00:12:25.420 --> 00:12:29.230
The news story, go away. We have to live
with this. This is our everyday life.

00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:33.460
There will be justice. You think
it's swept under the rug? No,

00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:36.640
it's not going to be swept under
the rug. We are not going away.

00:12:36.700 --> 00:12:38.050
So you can forget that

00:12:40.630 --> 00:12:43.210
this thing keeps happening
over and over again.

00:12:43.330 --> 00:12:46.810
It's like them murdering
my son over and over again.

00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:50.260
We remember all the people,

00:12:52.630 --> 00:12:53.780
these police,

00:12:56.770 --> 00:12:58.750
we can feel their spirit.

00:13:06.340 --> 00:13:09.160
We want to update you on the continuing
news coming out of Minneapolis this

00:13:09.160 --> 00:13:09.580
evening.

00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:12.430
When he said, I can't
breathe. How did you respond?

00:13:13.070 --> 00:13:15.170
It just sickened me.

00:13:15.550 --> 00:13:20.500
It was just like bringing me back to
the day that it actually happened to me.

00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:26.890
And then when I found out he no longer
had a mother and it was calling out to

00:13:26.890 --> 00:13:27.720
his mother.

00:13:28.630 --> 00:13:32.230
Sounds like he's just calling
on all mothers in America.

00:13:41.170 --> 00:13:45.760
The shrine I have is just what
people have given me after his

00:13:45.760 --> 00:13:50.710
death. Even my granddaughter,

00:13:50.950 --> 00:13:55.810
I have pictures with her at different
rallies with her father's picture

00:13:55.810 --> 00:13:58.240
in the middle, that corner.

00:13:58.540 --> 00:14:02.740
I just have a lot of things
there that reminds me of him

00:14:03.190 --> 00:14:05.200
and of my granddaughter, Erica.

00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:12.490
He took to the streets right
away and he went very hard at

00:14:12.490 --> 00:14:15.190
trying to combat her father's death.

00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:22.720
That put a lot of stress
on her. As a young woman.

00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:27.840
It took a total toll on her
with cameras without hammer,

00:14:28.750 --> 00:14:32.710
with your support or without
your support. That's right.

00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:35.860
I'm going to be out here
represented for my father.

00:14:35.920 --> 00:14:39.940
The stress because of her
father's death and her health,

00:14:40.510 --> 00:14:44.640
they were all connected. No
justice, no peace, no justice,

00:14:44.640 --> 00:14:48.580
no peace. I went to the hospital

00:14:50.690 --> 00:14:53.000
and she was unconscious.

00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:58.010
I was rubbing her feet and
trying to talk to her and I

00:14:58.010 --> 00:14:59.810
says, wow, here we go again.

00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:05.690
That Saturday morning she died.

00:15:07.400 --> 00:15:11.270
I went to the hospital
seeing her, laying there,

00:15:11.270 --> 00:15:12.800
and it was

00:15:14.810 --> 00:15:18.680
just too sad to see my
granddaughter laying there

00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:20.840
lifeless.

00:15:30.170 --> 00:15:34.310
And I cannot imagine the toll that
it has taken on you and your family,

00:15:34.310 --> 00:15:39.020
but to be able to endure that toll
and then put yourself out there,

00:15:39.650 --> 00:15:40.880
how do you have the.

00:15:40.880 --> 00:15:45.860
Strength to do it when you can make
another mother a little more comfortable

00:15:46.040 --> 00:15:50.570
after she has lost her child
with just embracing her or

00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:55.010
trying to listen to her
story? It's a form of therapy.

00:15:59.420 --> 00:16:03.950
A commemoration is when you
remember your child who has been

00:16:03.950 --> 00:16:08.600
murdered and you focus on the
good things about him and you

00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:13.220
try to make a difference so that they
are remembered and that their names are

00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:15.280
never forgotten. Amen.

00:16:17.510 --> 00:16:22.250
My son, Gary Hopkins, Jr. Was
murdered November 27th, 1999.

00:16:22.310 --> 00:16:26.300
An officer came and made one fatal
gunshot wound to Gary's chest killing him.

00:16:26.390 --> 00:16:29.090
From that day, I vowed that I.

00:16:29.090 --> 00:16:33.350
Would have to fight. The court was 31
years old and he was having car problems,

00:16:33.350 --> 00:16:37.160
so he pulled up on the side of the road
and the police officer stated that he

00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:39.260
thought he saw an abandoned
car on the side of the road.

00:16:39.260 --> 00:16:42.920
So he went over to investigate
and so he ended up shooting him.

00:16:43.460 --> 00:16:47.030
My son's name was Timothy Dawkins. Oh,

00:16:47.030 --> 00:16:51.710
Timothy was my baby son, and he took
a bullet to the back in his spine.

00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:57.380
My son was 24 years old when the
municipal police officer pulled him over

00:16:57.380 --> 00:16:59.930
and they fight 22 times. At my son.

00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:03.290
The person that killed
my son never knew my son,

00:17:03.290 --> 00:17:07.160
never saw him in his life
shooting at someone else.

00:17:08.270 --> 00:17:09.860
One bullet took his life.

00:17:10.490 --> 00:17:13.940
My last conversation with
my son was about his future.

00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:18.890
Any child that is black in this country,

00:17:19.760 --> 00:17:21.800
it's a very deadly place.

00:17:21.830 --> 00:17:26.720
We as mothers, we go in support to
try to get clarity and to try to get

00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.900
accountability. This is
what that movement is about.

00:17:30.890 --> 00:17:35.300
When we come together, no matter
who we are, how many mothers it is,

00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:37.880
we say we are mothers of the movement.

00:17:38.450 --> 00:17:40.880
No matter how you lose your child,

00:17:42.020 --> 00:17:45.710
it is a pain that you just can't imagine.

00:17:46.370 --> 00:17:50.910
There are so many of us who
was thrown into this exclusive

00:17:50.910 --> 00:17:53.670
club that no one wants to be a part of,

00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:59.190
but we have found a way to bond how to

00:17:59.190 --> 00:18:01.650
comfort each other. We laughed together.

00:18:03.120 --> 00:18:04.410
We cried together.

00:18:05.520 --> 00:18:10.380
Remember that day that I was at home
and I saw on the news when Eric Garner

00:18:10.740 --> 00:18:12.780
was murdered by the chokehold

00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:19.440
and I sat on my bed and I cried
because although I didn't know his

00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:24.390
family, I felt their
pain. I felt their pain,

00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:29.880
and I could not believe that
they were still doing the same

00:18:30.210 --> 00:18:32.520
thing and they're still
getting away with it.

00:18:33.540 --> 00:18:38.370
We answered the call because we
know what she must be feeling or

00:18:38.370 --> 00:18:39.930
what she must be going through.

00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:04.880
Get back. We safe.

00:19:04.930 --> 00:19:09.400
Right back. They thank it back. We
safe right back. Get back, right back.

00:19:09.580 --> 00:19:10.120
Get back.

00:19:10.120 --> 00:19:14.370
Garner's mother and protestors are
putting pressure on Mayor de Blassio.

00:19:15.210 --> 00:19:15.780
What do you say to de.

00:19:15.780 --> 00:19:20.370
Blassio? Fire those officers immediately.
Not September. I know. That's right.

00:19:20.370 --> 00:19:22.830
That's right. Thank you.
Don't wait for my birthday.

00:19:25.020 --> 00:19:26.430
My name is Gwen Carr.

00:19:26.490 --> 00:19:31.170
I'm the mother of Eric Garner
who was killed four years ago.

00:19:33.300 --> 00:19:34.560
I just want to know,

00:19:34.620 --> 00:19:38.640
would you agree to holding
all of those officers

00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:39.690
accountable?

00:19:40.080 --> 00:19:44.880
I feel very strongly that what
leaders do is respect that this

00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.020
process has to play out.

00:19:51.120 --> 00:19:54.930
True. Daniel Pantaleo has
been charged with the NYPD,

00:19:54.930 --> 00:19:57.030
but is that enough? Is that satisfying?

00:19:57.030 --> 00:19:59.880
No. Well, today I want to just
talk about the commemoration.

00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:04.110
I'm going to do all that after
this is to remember, Eric,

00:20:24.510 --> 00:20:29.460
we have to make noise. We have to
keep our children's names alive.

00:20:29.670 --> 00:20:33.270
We are not going to let them die
even though they lie in their grave,

00:20:33.270 --> 00:20:36.870
but we're not going to let them die
because long as they got a mother,

00:20:37.050 --> 00:20:38.130
they got a voice.

00:20:51.250 --> 00:20:56.020
So I'm here today again
having to lay flowers on my

00:20:56.020 --> 00:21:00.220
son's grave and it just hurts so bad.

00:21:00.490 --> 00:21:05.230
But he knows that I'm
his voice now that he's

00:21:05.230 --> 00:21:08.230
gone and I will always be his voice.

00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:12.400
Nobody could tell your story,
Eric better than I can.

00:21:12.910 --> 00:21:13.740
Amen.

00:21:14.020 --> 00:21:17.320
And I will keep on telling
it until someone listens

00:21:34.450 --> 00:21:39.220
and I have mixed emotions
about what's going

00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:40.780
on and what's going to happen.

00:21:42.940 --> 00:21:45.070
Stu London keep playing games.

00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:48.730
This is our life and he's
treating it like a chess game.

00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:55.240
Stuart London is the police
benevolent association

00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:56.070
lawyer.

00:21:56.140 --> 00:22:00.280
He was saying that my
son caused his own death.

00:22:10.870 --> 00:22:13.540
Nearly five years after
the death of Eric Garner.

00:22:13.540 --> 00:22:17.650
A disciplinary trial got underway today
for the NYPD officer accused of using a

00:22:17.650 --> 00:22:20.140
choke hold on him. In opening statements,

00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:23.410
a prosecutor said the officer used
a strictly prohibited choke hold.

00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:25.540
Absolutely banned without exception.

00:22:25.840 --> 00:22:29.050
But his attorney says the technique
was not a choke hold and that garner's

00:22:29.050 --> 00:22:30.940
obesity and asthma contributed to.

00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:47.590
The mayor is placing blame on the feds.

00:22:47.590 --> 00:22:51.640
And the Federal Justice Department told
the city of New York that we could not

00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:56.410
proceed because the Justice Department
was pursuing their prosecution

00:22:56.650 --> 00:22:57.490
to make this a fair,

00:22:57.490 --> 00:23:02.380
fairer country and to make sure it's a
country that puts working people first.

00:23:02.530 --> 00:23:03.880
Old language,

00:23:07.540 --> 00:23:10.990
fire, fire, fire.

00:23:12.520 --> 00:23:15.100
He knew what he was doing, that
he was killing Eric Garner,

00:23:15.100 --> 00:23:17.500
and yet he has not been
brought to justice.

00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:21.070
That police officer should be off
the street. I know the Garner family.

00:23:21.070 --> 00:23:22.900
They've gone through extraordinary pain.

00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:25.630
They're waiting for justice and
they're going to get justice.

00:23:30.910 --> 00:23:33.460
Maybe now justice will prevail.

00:23:53.360 --> 00:23:56.300
And we continue to follow
the breaking news of the day.

00:23:56.300 --> 00:24:01.100
The NYPD officer implicated in the
death of Eric Garner has been fired.

00:24:01.340 --> 00:24:05.600
We've seen the reactions from some of
Garner's family and local officials all

00:24:05.600 --> 00:24:05.990
day,

00:24:05.990 --> 00:24:10.460
and now Garner's mother is holding a
press conference right now to address the

00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:12.770
news. I thank you all for.

00:24:12.770 --> 00:24:16.520
Coming out with the support that you
have been giving me for five years.

00:24:16.820 --> 00:24:20.120
It's been five long years
that I have fought this fight.

00:24:20.540 --> 00:24:24.890
I have not fought supported alone because
many of you have been out here with

00:24:24.890 --> 00:24:29.480
me. I've been out seeking
justice for over five years,

00:24:29.930 --> 00:24:34.760
and this was the first little
crumb of justice that I was going

00:24:34.760 --> 00:24:38.840
to receive. So I was just overwhelmed.

00:25:02.540 --> 00:25:07.460
My husband had had a great impact on my
life. He stood right there by my side.

00:25:07.670 --> 00:25:12.320
He always was agreeable with
anything that I had to do with the

00:25:12.320 --> 00:25:13.220
activism.

00:25:14.600 --> 00:25:18.680
Getting up in the morning without
him took some getting used to.

00:25:24.530 --> 00:25:25.310
When I was young,

00:25:25.310 --> 00:25:29.480
I always dreamed that my children
would grow up to be productive

00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:34.280
citizens and my dreams
were for them to accomplish

00:25:34.280 --> 00:25:38.960
whatever dreams that they
had in mind and for me to

00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:43.940
be their backbone. So my dreams
would've been what their dreams were.

00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:56.900
I've spent my greatest years
with all of these people who are

00:25:56.990 --> 00:26:01.760
on this wall and I miss
them all so very much.

00:26:02.690 --> 00:26:07.160
It's a double-edged sword because I have
so many good memories of each and every

00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:11.330
one of them. Those memories
will live with me forever.

00:26:13.070 --> 00:26:17.690
The picture over here is a picture
of Eric's youngest daughter,

00:26:17.840 --> 00:26:18.710
legacy.

00:26:19.610 --> 00:26:24.260
Legacy was born four
months before Eric was

00:26:24.260 --> 00:26:25.090
murdered.

00:26:25.820 --> 00:26:29.840
It was just like she was a miracle
child because she was born,

00:26:29.840 --> 00:26:33.530
she was less than two pounds
and she made it through.

00:26:34.910 --> 00:26:37.820
So I always say she made
it through for a reason

00:26:39.860 --> 00:26:44.580
and her mom named her the right
name. Legacy. That's what she is.

00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:00.660
I'm still walking on my
own, talking on my own,

00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:03.180
getting up out of bed on my own.

00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:08.280
I just feel like even with
all of my disparities,

00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:10.380
I have blessings.

00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:16.230
I have so many blessings
that has been stowed upon me.

00:27:20.300 --> 00:27:22.470
So I'm thankful. I'm grateful,

00:27:22.950 --> 00:27:26.190
and I just feel like I'm
blessed and anointed by God.

00:27:30.990 --> 00:27:35.160
We are a vessel before and
after death for our children.

00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:38.430
When they were being born,

00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:42.540
we were the vessel where they
laid under our heartbeat,

00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:48.600
and now that they're gone, we have to
be the vessel that keeps them alive.

00:27:51.870 --> 00:27:56.010
I will spend the rest of my
life trying to get reformed,

00:27:57.060 --> 00:28:01.230
trying to change laws or make new laws.

00:28:02.460 --> 00:28:05.070
My pain has turned into a purpose.

00:28:05.370 --> 00:28:09.090
It's painful for me to keep
doing this day in, day out,

00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:13.890
but I feel like through
my pain I can get closure

00:28:14.340 --> 00:28:18.710
on my son's death and I can
help save someone else's job.