Samaria Rice on Tamika Mallory dispute: ‘I didn’t have to call you out your name’
As a guest on 'The Clay Cane Show,' Rice further explained recent comments made toward public figures in social justice movements.
Samaria Rice appeared as a special guest on SiriusXM’s The Clay Cane Show to further discuss her comments made toward Tamika Mallory, Ben Crump, and others who have created platforms advocating for social justice.
Read More: Tamika Mallory calls for ‘justice’ from Biden administration at Grammys
Rice and Lisa Simpson, mother of Richard Risher, who was killed by LAPD officers in 2017, joined for a conversation on social justice and police brutality. The host Clay Cane and the women discussed the activism space as well as policy change during their radio broadcast. Rice went further into her viral comments slamming well-known people in the social justice movement.
“I could’ve said it different. Tamika, I didn’t have to call you out your name, but baby girl, you out of pocket. You out your lane,” Rice exclaimed.
theGrio reported Rice called out Mallory after she appeared at the Grammy Awards with the Atlanta rapper Lil Baby. Rice accused the activist of “monopolizing” the fight for racial justice. Mallory performed a poem discussing Black oppression and police brutality. Rice used her social media accounts to make her statement against Mallory and others.
She made it clear that she is a fan of the musician and did not appreciate people using her words against him.
“I did what I did, I said what I said. Could I have said it in a different way? Yes I could’ve,” she remarked on the radio show. “Yes I could have, but at the time, it got me angry. And, here we go once again. Maybe you should have the mothers on the stage with you Tamika as a family. It wouldn’t have looked too obvious. And, this ain’t got nothing to do with Lil Baby.”
“My direct message was for Tamika Mallory, the activist Shaun King‘s and the Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors of the world,” she explained to Cane. “It’s no working together because she has created a platform…what are we going to work and do? She already created a platform, and guess what? My platform was given to me from the death of my son. What type of work are we going to do because I’m not interested in no movie deals and book deals. That comes to me every day. I have to turn away every day. So, tell me, what we going to do?”
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She continued, “going forward, I don’t know if it’s a conversation we can have. I don’t know. I just know I need them get out of our fight. They’ve built a platform, go live on that platform and get up out this fight.”
“I don’t know any Black Lives Matter chapters that help people,” Simpson remarked. Rice supported her local chapter of BLM in Cleveland for being supportive of her family and community.
Simpson continued, “the smaller chapters are putting in all the work and the global network is getting the paycheck…They’re getting everything and they don’t have a boot to the ground.”
Rice’s original statement was made on Sunday after the award show. She accused the aforementioned activists of having ulterior motives.
“Look at this clout chaser did she lose something in this fight I don’t think so,” wrote Rice, who also criticized civil rights attorney Crump. “That’s the problem they take us for a joke thats why we never have justice cause of shit like this.”
She also took to Facebook to say, “F**k a Grammy when my son is dead, F**k all pig cops.”
On Tuesday, Ms. Rice released an official statement, along with Simpson, doubling down on their thoughts about Mallory, Crump and others, asking them to “step down” and “stand back.”
“Tamika D. Mallory, Shaun King, Benjamin Crump, Lee Merritt, Patrisse Cullors, Melina Abdullah and the Black Lives Matter Global Network need to step down, stand back, and stop monopolizing and capitalizing our fight for justice and human rights,” the statement read. “We never hired them to be the representatives in the fight for justice for our dead loved ones murdered by the police.”
Their statement concluded: “We don’t want or need ya’ll parading in the streets accumulating donations, platforms, movie deals, etc. off the death of our loved ones, while the families and communities are left clueless and broken. Don’t say our loved ones’ names period! That’s our truth!”
The women claimed the activists use their loved-ones images and names for events and fundraising however given them anything. They are not the only parents to recently call out activists with large followings. theGrio reported Mike Brown’s father Mike Brown Sr. and local community organizer Tony Russell have demanded the Black Lives Matter organization provide $20M to continue their work in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to the report, Sr. has only received $500 from any BLM affiliated group since his son’s 2014 killing, despite being a community figure who organizes and supports other families in healing and empowerment. Their demand comes after BLM leaders revealed $90 million in donations during 2020 in response to the uprisings launched after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others.
“On behalf of many activists in the St. Louis area, I’m joined by Mike Brown Sr., the father of Mike Brown Jr. Today, we hold Black Lives Matter accountable,” Russell announced in a video shared on social media.
This article contains additional reporting from theGrio’s DeMicia Inman, Keydra Manns, Stephanie Guerilus and Blue Telusma.
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