It has always been time to talk about this

The world is not exactly the safest place. But it’s heartbreaking when the ones sworn to serve and protect, who we collectively depend on for safety, are the ones inflicting harm simply because of race. For some, this means that something as trivial as hanging out with friends in a park, sitting in your car, or just in the comfort of your own backyard can put them in danger.

A recent study last month from Washington University in St Louis, found that nearly 60 per cent of Black women killed by police were unarmed. Police have been killing black women and girls and the disturbing reality is that, in most cases, these events don’t receive the media coverage that is expected by these injustices. In addition, a report by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) highlighted that Black women and girls continue to lose their lives from violence motivated by race.

The AAPF also notes that these cases often aren’t treated in the same regard.

The few cases that do get media coverage such as Rekia Boyd and Sandra Bland for example don’t stay in the public’s eye for long. After they make the news, it’s almost as if they’re forgotten. . We can’t forget these things have happened. We can’t forget about. We need to generate these discussions in the media, in order to push for a gender inclusive movement and work towards ending state violence against Black women. We can’t bring change and create a dialogue on this issue, if there’s gaps in the information we’re receiving.

An excerpt from the AAPF spoke volumes to me; it said that the erasure of Black women is not a matter of missing facts. “Even where women and girls are present in the data, narratives framing police profiling and lethal force as exclusively male experiences lead researchers, the media and advocates to exclude them.”

An injustice is an injustice – and all injustices deserve awareness. Why recognize one and dismiss the other? Racism and sexism are two huge individual issues, but it’s important we acknowledge this intersection and the overlap of these issues, which continue to create social injustice.

Black women continue to be affected by structural violence. In 2012, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed Rekia Boyd, 22, as she walked with a group of people by a park near her home. The officer, Dante Servin approached the group, telling them to be quiet, according to police in a CNN news report. Words exchanged between officer Servin and the group, he then fired five shots from his car shooting Boyd in the head. The officer mentioned feeling threatened and said Boyd’s boyfriend pulled a gun from his pants.No gun was found. Boyd was also found unarmed. I always wonder in these situations, if there was no weapon, what is your fear? Why feel so threatened by a group of innocent people minding their business

Boyd’s homicide stirred up the movement #SayHerName, that launched in 2015, to draw awareness to cases like Boyd’s and those of other unarmed Black women during police interactions. The movement spreads awareness around Black women’s experiences with police violence, as well as the Black LGBTQ+ community.

Without the frames that allow us to see the impacts of these social issues, the stories of these women will slip through the cracks and can result in the their isolation. We need to take action. The first step is for policy makers, reporters, and politicians to see these stories, to talk about these women, and to create spaces for these discussions. If our silence continues so will the injustices. It has always been time to talk about this.

Photo by Mia Fermindoza/APF