#SayHerName: Ain't We Women!?
The #SayHerName campaign rose up to demand that the lives, dignity, and denigration of black women's lives be acknowledged. #SayHerName demands the inclusion of the names of women killed by police or in police custody among the roll call of the dead.
A 130-pound Natasha McKenna struggled under the weight of several officers who stunned her naked body with a Taser four times in 17 minutes in Fairfax County, Va. McKenna fell unconscious upon arrival to the hospital, and died 5 days later. Officer Eric Casebolt drew his gun on a 14-year-old bikini-clad girl, then manhandled her, threw her to the ground, and kneeled on her back as she cried for her mother. In the wake of the slaughter of the Emanuel AME Nine in Charleston, S.C., and the subsequent removal of Confederate flags across the south, six black women died while in police custody throughout the month of July. Last week, India Krager became the latest life of a black woman snuffed out, and it happened within 15 seconds of interaction with four white Virginia Beach officers — while her 4-month-old baby sat in the car seat behind her.
And the blood of these dead cry out: "Ain't we women?!"
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Most of us could not imagine a male police officer manhandling a bikini-clad white girl — pulling a gun on her, wrestling her to the ground, and kneeling on her back like Casebolt did to the little girl at the pool party in Texas.
Most of us could not imagine a male officer pulling a Taser on a suburban white woman because she asked why she had to put out her cigarette; then slamming her to ground, kneeling on her back, and taking her into custody because she failed to use a turn signal.
Why? Because, as the men said in Sojourner Truth's day, "Women need to be helped … and lifted … and to have the best … everywhere."
And breastmilk clings to concrete and cries out, "Ain't we women?!"
Yes. You are.
And so we speak your names. We recognize your dignity. We honor the power of your femininity. We lament the tragedy of your suffering and we promise never to erase you again.
#TanishaAnderson, #RekiaBoyd, #MiriamCarey, #MichelleCusseaux, #ShellyFrey, #KaylaMoore, #YvetteSmith, #DarneshaHarris, #MalissaWilliams, #AlesiaThomas, #ShantelDavis, #ShereeseFrancis, #AiyanaStanleyJones, #TarikaWilson, #KathrynJohnston, #AlbertaSpruill, #KendraJames,#NatashaMcKenna, #MeaganHockaday, #JanishaFonville, #SandraBland, #KindraChapman, #JoyceCurnell, #RalkinaJones, #RaynetteTurner, #IndiaKager …
