Porsha Williams’ desire for her daughter to have a “good life” is fueling her decision to participate in Black Lives Matter protests during a deadly pandemic.
The 39-year-old Real Housewives of Atlanta star pours her feelings out about racial injustice in a new interview with The New York Times.
“When I saw that video of George Floyd being murdered, I knew that I had to change the way I was moving,” Porsha tells the newspaper about why she decided to hit the streets and let her voice be heard in the fight against police brutality. “That meant now I have to sacrifice myself, my finance, my brand, my everything, and put it all on the line for change.”
“I’m in the house trying to save my life and not put myself at risk to get this killer virus,” she says about trying to avoid contracting COVID-19. “And then here I am going out of my house again, now, to fight for my life and fight for African-Americans not to be killed in the street.”
Porsha makes it clear that her daughter Pilar (aka PJ) is the source of her inspiration, saying that she agreed to join protestors, “because I have a little girl in the house.” “And it doesn’t take but a second for a mother to think about the fact that they want their child to be healthy, well and have a good life,” she adds.
Porsha is not just paying lip service to the Black Lives Matter movement. On July 14 she was arrested outside the home of Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron as she and other demonstrators demanded the arrest of the Louisville cops who fatally shot Breonna Taylor. (As of the publication of this post, it is 150 days since the 26-year-old EMT was killed in her home on March 13 after cops used a no-knock warrant to burst into her apartment in the middle of the night while she and her boyfriend were asleep.)
“I honestly feel like if we don’t get justice for Breonna Taylor, then there is no justice for anyone,” Porsha tells the Times. “All of our rights will be violated in the future. We can all expect to possibly be in our home, asleep, in our sanctuary and have our door knocked down and have eight bullets be put into our body and laid to rest without being able to tell our mothers goodbye.”
During the interview Porsha admits that she thinks she has “gained” more “respect” from her RHOA castmates because of her activism. “They can see me sacrificing,” she says. “They understand that not all brands want to support a cause such as this.”