Porsha Williams Encourages Protestors to "Keep Going"
"Stay focused on your mission, and that is to be heard and to be seen," the RHOA cast member said.
Porsha Williams is encouraging those protesting in support of the Black Lives Matter movement to "keep going."
During Part 2 of her conversation with comedian and activist W. Kamau Bell on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: @ Home on June 9, Andy Cohen asked Porsha for any advice for those who might be "scared off" after seeing images of the authorities using tear gas and similar tactics during peaceful protests.
Porsha, who posted a video of herself and her fiancé, Dennis McKinley, among those being tear gassed during a protest in Atlanta on Instagram on June 1, advised that instances like this shouldn't deter anyone from joining the Black Lives Matter movement or continuing the fight. "Keep going. They can't stop us," Porsha said. "And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to be on the front line firsthand because I want to know what they feel before I even speak on it."
The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member then described what she experienced at that protest she captured on video. "And, yeah, I got tear gassed. Yeah, I had to have milk poured on my face to relieve my eyes from that insane burning," she recalled. "But keep going, because what they're trying to do is silence you once again. We have the National Guard here. We have the APD. The crowds can be peaceful, and they are trying to provoke the crowds and make them angry and make them act out so they can turn on the camera and say, 'Oh, look what happened. The peaceful protest has turned awry.'"
Porsha noted that fighting for change takes hard work and hardship, as we have seen what Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and her grandfather, Hosea Williams, endured during protests in the past. "So if you are out for the protest, it's not for the picture, it's not just to be out there. You are out there to fight. Stay focused on your mission, and that is to be heard and to be seen, absolutely. So I would just say don't let them intimidate us, period."
Porsha ultimately encouraged everyone to "keep marching forward."
Porsha has been active in supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, protesting in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor earlier this year. She has also used her platform to share powerful images and videos from the protests, as well as speaking out on racial inequality in the press, in the Instagram Live panel Amplify Our Voices: An Open Dialogue on Being Black in America, in addition to her recent conversation on WWHL: @ Home.
For the latest reporting on the Black Lives Matter protests from NBC News and MSNBC’s worldwide team of correspondents, including a live blog with minute-to-minute updates, visit NBCNews.com and NBCBLK.
Photo: Porsha Williams/Instagram
