REMARKS
Council Member Chi Ossé Explains His Vote to Override the Mayor's Vetoes
1:28:54
·
106 sec
Council Member Chi Ossé addresses the council to explain his vote in favor of the bill, offering an apology to his Chinese siblings for any mispronunciation and aiming to dispel misinformation among Mandarin-speaking communities.
Ossé shares poignant personal experiences of being racially profiled as a black, gay, nerdy kid while emphasizing the bill's importance in promoting police accountability, transparency, and safety for black New Yorkers, particularly young black men.
Speaker 5
1:28:54
Jose, permission to explain my vote.
Speaker 1
1:28:56
Permission granted.
Speaker 5
1:28:57
Wauscha, Hayren, Hood John Gorgren.
1:29:17
I just wanted Dolby Buchi to my Chinese siblings for my mispronunciation on anything, but I wanted to address any Mandarin speaking communities who have been fed a lot of misinformation about what this bill does.
1:29:28
As a black New Yorker, I remember taking the subway to school and being stopped by police you know, first of all, let me give you a picture.
1:29:36
I was a gay nerdy black kid.
1:29:37
I was no threat to anyone, but the sole threat that these police officers saw was the color of my skin.
1:29:43
And I know that's not an isolated incident for young black men, for black people, not only with New York, within New York, but across the country.
1:29:51
And this bill that we're passing today is going to set the record on what black families have been teaching and asking for when it comes to their relationship with the police.
1:30:02
And that's a level of accountability, of transparency, and safety.
1:30:07
The numbers don't lie.
1:30:08
We see that our communities are most impacted and policed based off of the color of our skin.
1:30:14
I want to thank all of the bill sponsors, the public advocate, the speaker, for really keeping me safe, for keeping My colleagues in the city council safe as well as all black New Yorkers, especially young black men who have been targeted without any levels of accountability.
1:30:30
So thank you.
1:30:38
I vote iron ore.
Speaker 2
1:30:39
Thank you.