© 2026 ABC News

Thema told \"GMA\" she wanted to paint a very real picture of what it's like to be a mom of black children in today's world where the deaths of black people at the hands of police have been put in the spotlight.

Thema's sign specifically called out the death of George Floyd, who died on Memorial Day in Minneapolis after a police officer appeared to have held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

\"As a mother of two African American boys, it angered me to think of the fact that we as mothers go through so much to birth the world ... some of us even come close to death just to birth our children,\" she said. \"Then just to have their lives taken away from us within nine minutes from police officers who took a vow to protect people of all colors.\"

Thema marched at the protest in front of the U.S. Capitol with the Freedom Fighters, a Washington, D.C.-based group of activists. She said fellow protesters applauded the sign and she hopes police officers present at the march and around the country received the message as well.

\"I hope the police officers that have seen my sign take a second to think about the families [and] remember that they are not above the law, they just enforce the laws,\" she said. \"New laws need to be in place. True justice needs to be served. New and better training needs to be in place for some current officers and new upcoming officers.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Family/pregnant-womans-protest-sign-sends-powerful-message-mom/story?id=71137334","legacySlug":"/family/story/pregnant-womans-protest-sign-sends-powerful-message-mom-71137334","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"14:02","publishDate":"06-10-2020","updatedTime":"12:07","updatedDate":"06-11-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Thema, a 26-year-old pregnant woman, holds a handmade sign at a Black Lives Matter protest in Washington, D.C.","credit":"@uluvmylovefaces/Instagram","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/gma-protest-ht-kk-200608_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"6/10/2020 14:02:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":71137334,"headline":"Woman's message on being a mom of black kids","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Pregnant woman at protest_200608","description":"Thema, 26 and pregnant with her second child, protested in Washington, D.C.","duration":"3:15","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/06/200608_gma_norman_central_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["71077759","71116214","71085646"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"January 20, 2021","headline":"Protecting Black mental health: How to cope, restore and 'take your power back'","section":"wellness","slug":"/wellness/story/black-mental-health-matters-cope-time-social-injustice-71077759","id":71077759,"image":{"alt":"Protecting Black mental health: How to cope, restore and 'take your power back'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/GMABlackMentalHealth_060520_BV_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"ABC Photo Illustration","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"June 7, 2020","headline":"Couple celebrates 'empowering' wedding during Philadelphia protest","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/couple-celebrated-wedding-philadelphia-protest-call-empowering-moment-71116214","id":71116214,"image":{"alt":"Couple celebrates 'empowering' wedding during Philadelphia protest","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/protest-weddings-philadelphia-2-ap-rc-200606_hpMain_2_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"June 9, 2020","headline":"‘Pose’ actor Ryan Jamaal Swain honors activist Bayard Rustin and more LGBTQ icons","section":"culture","slug":"/video/71085646","id":71085646,"image":{"alt":"‘Pose’ actor Ryan Jamaal Swain honors activist Bayard Rustin and more LGBTQ icons","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/200604_gma_digital_ryanjamaalswain_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Woman's message on being a mom of black kids","description":"Thema, 26 and pregnant with her second child, protested in Washington, D.C.","duration":"3:15","uploadDate":"06-10-2020","publication":"06-10-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/06/200608_gma_norman_central_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/06/200608_gma_norman_central_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/family/story/pregnant-womans-protest-sign-sends-powerful-message-mom-71137334"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132231169","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132206748","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132200241","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131142257","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131046664","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131048076","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:family:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"family","title":"Woman's message on being a mom of black kids","pubTime":"10:02","pubDate":"06-10-2020","modTime":"08:07","modDate":"06-11-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":71137334,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Woman's message on being a mom of black kids","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Pregnant woman at protest_200608","videoId":71137334,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/family/story/pregnant-womans-protest-sign-sends-powerful-message-mom-71137334"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/71137334","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/71137334","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};