President Of MBBA Speaks About BLM, Her Mother, And September 11
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Paula T. Edgar talks about the BLM movement and the loss of her mother in the September 11 tragedy.
Civic leader and president of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, Paula T. Edgar, in her recent visit to Ferguson and Missouri along with other members of the National Bar Association, spoke about the present state of racism in the country, police brutality and the September 11 terrorist attack.
Edgar was accompanied by Benjamin Crump, Jesse Jackson and some mothers of deceased Black people, who were victims of police brutality – including Leslie McFadden and Sybrina Fulton, the mothers of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin respectively.
Reading victims’ names today at the #september11 memorial in honor of my Mother, Joan Donna Griffith. #sept11 #neverforget
At the event, McFadden spoke about the importance of the BLM movement, as the group has been making positive strides in tackling racism on Blacks in our society. She also spoke about the lack of positive media coverage in the country and then she urged the people who attended the event not to forget what her son went through at the hands of the police.
McFadden’s words brought a bit of a spark to Edgar, as she remembered the death of her mother in the September 11 terrorist attack and how the media coverage surrounding the terrible attack focused on the white victims. Her mother, Joan Donna Griffith, was an assistant vice president and office manager at Fiduciary Trust, which was located on the 97th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Joan Donna Griffith, World Trade Center
— America Remembers (@NewsHourlive) September 11, 2011
Edgar believes the media rarely featured people of color when they covered the tragedy, as the term “victims’ families” typically referred to the white people. This has been the case for a long time now, as Blacks have been lobbying for fair treatment from the justice system, police, Hollywood, labor force and media companies.
RIP Joan Donna Griffith #911anniversary pic.twitter.com/WtmhHoN4Vi
— ❤️Cookie❤️ (@strongsistas) September 11, 2014
Her mother was the youngest of six children, a loving mother of two and a beautiful wife to her husband of twenty years. Griffith was smart, beautiful, funny and kind. When she died, BLM didn’t’ exist at that time. Her life matters to her loved ones, which is the reason why Edgar believes her story has to be told in order to remember the people whose stories haven’t been told and the sacrifices that came before us.
Each of those lives lost in the tragedy mattered, but the media’s agenda on people of color can’t be overstated. Not honoring the individual legacies of Black people that died in the attack puts a dent in a critical part of the nation’s history. The system doesn’t bother about what happens to the Black community, they don’t care about our problems and struggles. May every Black soul lost in the tragedy rest in perfect peace. Black Lives Matter! And we will continue to fight for our rights.
Source: thegrio
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