When it comes to the importance of Black lives, Missouri Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush is done entertaining arguments that suggest otherwise.
In a CNN segment Bush shared Tuesday, she said as long as Black people are dying at the hands of police and are victims of institutional racism, she doesn’t care if Black Lives Matter or her support of the movement is offensive to anyone.
She doesn't like Black death.
“The point is there is still police brutality in this country,” Bush said. “And so, I understand that people don’t like the slogan, I get that. But I don’t like death. I don’t like Black death. I don’t like to keep seeing my people die at the hands of the police and nothing is happening.”
On Twitter, she wrote that the conversation was always about the degradation of Black lives particularly prevalent in the law enforcement community.
“The problem isn’t any particular slogan, it’s police brutality. Let’s talk about that,” she tweeted.
Supporters of the 44-year-old St. Louis native took to social media and remarked at how real, yet eloquent the eminent congresswoman-elect was in expressing herself.
One person wrote that Bush’s realness is refreshing because she presents herself without a filter.
"You articulate the issue better than most," one Twitter user wrote. "I love you for this because the way you present it is without spin, lecture or political correctness. It’s real and undeniable. Keep talking your talk oh fearless leader!”
Another person tweeted that Bush’s authenticity is the exact type of representation needed in politics.
After watching the Missouri politician's clip, another person wrote that members of Black community are fed up with appeasing people in power who aren’t prioritizing Black people and their issues.
“THANK YOU FOR SAYING IT LIKE IT IS! Enough of the nonsense semantics. People's lives are at stake. We don't have to please the people to whom this isn't a priority,” the tweet read.
Following the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Bush became a prominent social activist in the Black Lives Matter movement, according to The New Yorker. In 2016, she first ran for Senate against Republican incumbent Roy Blunt in a losing effort. Two years later, she would lose to Lacy Clay, now serving out his tenth term in Congress.
Bush’s breakthrough this year was spurred by a wave of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and national concern over the state of the country.
Her support of police reform or her work in the Black community often isn't well received by her Republican peers.
Despite Bush’s efforts to bring attention to the case of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT killed by Louisville police in March, she said her counterparts on the Hill confused her for Taylor after the 44-year-old wore a “Breonna Taylor” branded face mask on her first day in Congress.
As Blavity previously reported, Bush said she was hurt that people in power continue to disrespect the experiences of Black people in America.
"This has been national news for a long time, people have protested in the streets with this name. It just saddens me that people in leadership, people that want to be in leadership, don’t know the struggles that are happening to Black people in this country,” she said. “It’s disheartening and it’s hurtful. Absolutely hurtful.”
Bush, a registered nurse and HBCU grad, was elected as Missouri’s first Black representative in Congress, claiming victory over Clay in the primary District 1 Missouri State House race.
