Allen Roskoff was one of the featured speakers at The National Action Network’s “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks” rally, held at the Lincoln Memorial on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech. Other speakers included Vice Presidential Candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King, III. Also delivering remarks were family members of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Ahmaud Arbery. Following the conclusion of the rally, participants marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
Here is the transcript of Allen’s speech:
“I AM HERE TO TELL EVERYBODY THAT THE LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY IS PART OF THIS STRUGGLE. WE JOIN WITH BLACK LIVES MATTER. WE MARCH WITH YOU. WE GET ARRESTED AND WE GET BRUTALIZED IN SUPPORT. AFTER ALL THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT WAS FORMED BECAUSE OF BRUTALITY OF THE POLICE IN A BAR KNOWN AS STONEWALL. UNTIL THE BLACK COMMUNITY IS NOISED AS AN EQUAL, UNTIL POLICE HARASSMENT, BELITTLEMENT, SHOOTINGS, AND KILLINGS END, WE WILL STAND UNITED. WE ARE ALL ONE. WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE WILL CONTINUE DEMONSTRATING. WE WILL CONTINUE MARCHING. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PROTEST. WE WILL CONTINUE TO STEP -- UPSET THE POWER STRUCTURE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO RISK THE RISKS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE ARRESTED. WE WILL BE PROUD OF THIS MOMENT AND DID ALL OF THE DEMONSTRATIONS THAT PROTEST IN NEW YORK AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY, YOU CAN SEE OUR RAINBOW FLAGS AND BANNERS, BLACK LIVES MATTER. IT'S ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONS. AT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MOVEMENTS IN THIS COUNTRY AND HISTORY. I THANK YOU ALL, I THINK REV. AL SHARPTON AND THE NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK FOR PUTTING THIS TOGETHER AND BEING SUCH A GOOD FRIEND TO THE LTBGTB COMMUNITY. TOGETHER IN VICTORY, VOTE OUT THE RACIST IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE TOTAL ADMINISTRATION AND ITS SUPPORTERS. THANK YOU.”
