"If you don't vote, you don't have a voice": Tina Knowles-Lawson and Breonna Taylor's mother on fighting systemic racism
More than 100 days after Breonna Taylor was killed in her home by police, one of the officers involved in her death was fired on Tuesday. But despite protests and calls for arrests, none of the officers involved have been charged with a crime.
In her first interview since the officer was fired, Breonna Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, spoke with "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King about what she hopes will happen next in her daughter's case. Tina Knowles-Lawson, who recently partnered with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, also joined King to discuss how to best fight systemic racism and voter suppression.
Read excerpts from the interview below — and watch more of King's interview with Palmer and Knowles-Lawson on Thursday on "CBS This Morning."
On the arrest of officer Brett Hankison:
Gayle King: Tamika, this is also very personal for you. You are, of course, Breonna's mother. And yesterday there was news that one of the officers involved in the shooting of your daughter has been fired. What was your reaction to that?
Tamika Palmer: Mixed. Of course I'm happy to hear that he was fired. He should've been fired. It's just the beginning though. It's so much more to go. There's so many other people involved...
King: I know you're working on passing Breonna's Law, which would ban those no-knock warrants. Is that a start for you?
Palmer: It's not enough. It's a start for other families…It'll be great for other people. Somebody still has to answer for what happened to Breonna, though.
On fighting systemic racism:
King: Where do you tell people to start when it comes to fighting systemic racism?
Tina Knowles-Lawson: I tell them to start with themselves and to look in the mirror. And to see what part you played, whether you are a black middle class person who has gotten out of touch with what's happening in the world and, you know, you can be so critical and so judgmental of people who are having a hard time and they need a break…
My white friends, I appreciate the support. And I feel like it's the first time that they've been honest and stepped up and realized that this is, I mean, to be a humanitarian or a person who has a heart that you cannot stand by and watch the things that have happened… So for you not to take a look, you know, silence is betrayal.
Right now you have no excuse because it's everywhere. Everybody's home. They know what's going on. If somebody says that they haven't seen one of those videos or they don't know what's going on, they are not being honest. And so I tell them to start with themselves and I'm starting with myself because I want to make sure that I'm doing everything I can and not just talking the talk but that I'm walking the walk.
On voter suppression:
King: Tina, I think many people don't really understand the link between voter suppression and justice for people like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. Can you connect those dots for us, please?
Knowles-Lawson: A lot of my kids that I mentor have had personal relationships with… violence and gun violence. And so they, you know, their response was, "It doesn't matter if we get our family to vote. It's not gonna make a difference. It never has." And they are very hopeless and I think a lot of black people feel that way. And it's up to us to educate them on the connection.
And how I connect the dots with them is by letting them know that if you vote... you vote for the mayor, and the mayor hires the police chief and the district attorney and all the people that are in power to make those changes in your community. And so if you don't vote, then you don't have a voice.
