Mariah in “Take it Personal”

[chants of "This stops now" from the crowd]

[motioning for the crowd to quiet down] Yes it does, yes it does. Oh, it warms my heart to see you here this evening. My cousin, Cornell Stokes, was murdered right where you're standing. And it pains me to even be here, but it's necessary. Luke Cage murdered my cousin, and I am not afraid to speak out about it. The man is a liar, he is a menace, and as long as he is running around loose, hiding amongst us, no one is safe. Now, I know what brought us here tonight: the police putting their hands on yet another young black man. It's wrong! It is wrong! [crowd cheers] No doubt about that! But, we can not lose focus here. A cop was killed by this super-powered menace, and our young brother was hurt during their witch hunt. Brothers and sisters, our world has changed. We have new threats, new terrorists. That woman over in Hell's Kitchen snapped a man's neck 'cause he was mind-controlling her. We've got a bullet-proof murderer on the loose in Harlem, with his own twisted sense of justice, putting us all in harm's way. Do I trust the cops? [cries of "no" from the crowd] Not blindly. [crowd cheers] We need protection! From Luke Cage, we need protection from the other powered people like Luke Cage. These are real threats! [crowd cheers and Mariah motions for quiet once more] We need to arm our men and women in blue, so that they can protect us. Truly protect us and never confuse us with those who are the real threat. You stay strong!