A 15 year old girl named Makhia Bryant from Columbus Ohio was shot four times in the chest by police, just as the verdict was being read. She was who called them for help.
Ma’Khia was a beloved Black girl who would still be here if we didn’t perseverate on the myth that cops – and policing – keep us safe. If we focused on how Black girls are perceived and policed from the youngest age in every institution. If we understood that for Black women, girls, trans and gender-nonconforming people, a call for help can be – and is all too often – fatal. If we understood the violence Black girls routinely experience in the foster system as part of the violence we are fighting to end. If we understood that our failure to protect Black girls, women and trans people from violence and provide for a world where they have everything they need to be safe often leaves them with no choice but to defend themselves – and then be criminalized, punished, or worse yet, killed as a result. (via newsone.com)
CC: #sayhername is a hashtag exclusive to Black women and girls for the exact reasons y’all are blaming Ma’khia Bryant’s murder on herself. Seldom are Black women and girls able to be mourned and/or celebrated with respect and kindness. Ma’khia was a child. She should still be here. (via Eva Reign)
CC: Again, police are not just shooting Black people. They are emptying clips into them. It is lynching.
The idea that we need to review video or know more circumstances to determine whether it’s necessary to shoot someone multiple times is itself a function of structural racism. It’s the white establishment pretending to be dramatically more enlightened than the murderous cops. (via Bree Newsome)
