Nine mothers whose children have been killed by police or gun violence stood together Tuesday and implored delegates to the Democratic National Convention to support Hillary Clinton because she would work to heal racial tensions in America.
"I lived in fear that my son would die like this," Lucia McBath said at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Her son, Jordan Davis, 17, was killed by Michael Dunn, a software developer, in a Florida parking-lot dispute over loud music in 2012.
"I even warned him that because he was a young black man he would meet people who didn't value him or his life," McBath said. "That is the conversation that no parent should ever have with their child.
"Hillary Clinton isn't afraid to say that black lives matter. She isn't afraid to sit at a table with grieving mothers and bear the full force of our anguish."
The women, called "The Mothers of the Movement," first met with Clinton in November. In emotional speeches, they talked of their anguish and how they believe the Democratic nominee will especially work to improve relations between law enforcement and minority communities.
"One year ago yesterday, I lived the worst nightmare anyone could imagine," said Geneva Reed-Veal. "I watched as my daughter, Sandra Bland, was lowered into the ground in a coffin."
Bland, 28, died in a Texas jail after a traffic arrest in July 2015. Reed-Veal noted that six other women had died in police custody that same month.
"So many of our children are gone, but they are not forgotten," she said. "I am here with Hillary Clinton tonight, because she is a leader and a mother who will say our children's names."
Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, told the delegates that "I am an unwilling participant in this movement."
Martin, also 17, was gunned down in Florida in 2012 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer.
"I would not have signed up for this or any other mother that's standing here with me today," Fulton said. "But I am here today for my son, Trayvon Martin, who is in heaven.
"Hillary Clinton has the compassion and understanding to support grieving mothers," Fulton later added. "She has the courage to lead the fight for common-sense gun legislation.
"She has a plan to heal the divide that so often exists between law enforcement and the communities that they serve," she continued. "This isn't about being politically correct. This is about saving our children."