"In my home State of Missouri, Black youth account for 15 percent of our youth population; yet, receive 27 percent of referrals to juvenile court."
"It is this fear of Black and Brown youth, long labeled super-predators, that has made jailing and sentencing them to life without parole too easy and too common."
"We treat trauma with more trauma."
"The stereotype that Black and Brown boys and girls are dangerous or threatening has normalized systems of trauma."
"These zero-tolerance policies regularly do not take into account the social conditions in which children may live, unsafe and unstable housing; lead exposure, which is no fault of their own; cyclical ..."
"At Trump's January 6 rally, he told the crowd, 'If you don't fight like hell, you are not going to have a country anymore.'"
"I think it is disgusting that we have colleagues on this hearing who won't acknowledge Black women suffering, that there are stark differences in our pain."
"Today's conversation is a necessary step in the work to address the Black birthing crisis in our country, a crisis rooted in our Nation's legacy of slavery, let us be clear."
"The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman."
"I've watched this system fail dying patients."
"Black and Brown patients are more likely to suffer from illnesses like kidney failure and less likely to get an organ transplant."