Eric Garner’s Family Protests Police Brutality With New Song “I Can’t Breathe”
Eric Garner's family released a new protest song called "I Can't Breathe." The track dropped to coincide with the second anniversary of Garner's death. The single also arrives at a particularly disheartening time in this country following the recent police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
"The song is dedicated to the struggle everyone is going through," Garner's family said in a statement.
Garner's sister Ellisha Flagg is the lead vocalist on "I Can't Breathe." The song title is taken from the words Eric Garner repeated on July 17, 2014 when he was put in a chokehold by a New York City Police Department officer. The phrase become a rallying cry for protests against police brutality following Garner's death.
The song also features a verse by Garner's brother Steven Flagg. His heartbreaking words serve as a reminder of the pain that the families of police brutality victims go through for years to come.
“If I lose my car, I can get another one/Lose my house, I can get another one/Lose my mind, I create another one/They took my brother and I can never get another one/I’m tired of a system that will never love me / A system that took my brother from me/No matter how much money I receive, I can hear my brother crying I can’t breathe," Steven Flagg raps.
The "I Can't Breathe" single will go up for sale tomorrow (July 16). All proceeds go to the Garner Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Garner's family to educate people about racially injustice enacted by law enforcement.
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