WASHINGTON (WDVM) — Mother’s Day 2021 is on Sunday, May 9. Across the country, the day will pass for many mothers with pain and loss. People came together at Freedom Plaza in the District of Columbia for the “Hear Our Cry” rally to acknowledge that loss and discuss plans for change and police reform.

The organizing groups for the rally include the Center for Racial Equity and Justice, Washington’s NAACP Chapter and DMV Black Lives Matter.

The president for the Center for Racial Equity and Justice, Reverend George C. Gilbert, Jr., said, “We need systemic change.”

The systemic change discussed at the event could be brought by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.

NAACP President Salim Adolfo added, “We see today, those same things that happened (40 and 50 years ago) are happening now, and there’s been a whole lot of lives lost in between.”

Some of the lives that have been lost were from right in the D.M.V. and surrounding area. Multiple mothers spoke at the rally about their loss.

Marion Gray-Hopkins lost her son in Prince George’s County. She said, “My cry for justice went unheard. As for the others speaking here today, no one heard their cries either.”

Another speaker, Greta Brooks, explained, “I am a mother that have lost my 14-year-old son, who was murdered by a Baltimore City Police officer in my home, in front of me.”

The purpose of the rally was to not only hear these mother’s cries, but to amplify the cries to local and national leaders.

Reverend Gilbert said, “George Floyd cried out for his mother before he died, and we are here to answer that cry, to answer the cries of mothers who don’t have their children.”

While the mothers explained their loss, speakers also called the crowd to act.

Brooks said, “We are going to continue to protect the memory of our children, the memory of our loved ones.”

Adolfo added, “We gotta pass some laws for sure, right. But the only way they do that is when we go out in the streets and mobilize our people for self-determination, self-respect and self-defense of the Black community.”

Reverend Gilbert explained what our nation’s leaders should take away from the event. He said, “The rest of the world is tired of the racism. The rest of the world is tired of the injustice, and we need our government to catch up and stand up for the least, the lost and the left out.”

The organizing groups said they are actively working with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to have the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed.