Her name was Sandra Bland.
Those who knew and loved her called her Sandy.
And I can tell you honestly
She is me and I am she.
Outspoken about the injustices happening to our people
Sandy couldn’t sit quietly
nothing meek about she.
She spoke
loudly,
intelligently,
passionately.
Sandy speaks
she still speaks to me.
Her life mattered.
And I won’t recap the details
all of the things absolutely wrong
with her traffic stop and arrest.
But I will say this
Her life absolutely mattered.
Black women’s lives matter.
And
I won’t
I can’t
force you to care.
We were born here.
As much claim to this land as my unmelinated neighbors
but the point can’t be belabored
justice is not equal here.
Black citizens live in fear
of flashing red lights
of cops whose minds ain’t right.
And no, not all cops.
Not by a long shot.
But it only takes one to take all I’ve got.
And me
Being a woman.
There will be no universality
Among those who fight against the injustices done to those who look like me.
No national Trayvon level galvanizing.
So I will continue to scream
Black women’s lives matter.
And I will speak their names
Again and again and again and again.
Sandra Bland, 28 in Texas
Kendra James, 21 in Oregon
Shereese Francis, 29 in New York City
Tanisha Anderson, 37 in Cleveland
Yvette Smith 47 in Texas
Natasha McKenna , 37 in Virginia
Rekia Boyd, 22 in Chicago
Shelly Frey 27-in Houston.
Darnisha Harris was only a teenager in Louisiana
Malissa Williams, 30 in Cleveland
Alesia Thomas 35 in Los Angeles
Shantel Davis 23 in New York City
Aiyana Stanley-Jones only 7 years old in Detroit
Tarika Wilson, 26 in Ohio
Kathryn Johnson 92 in Atlanta
Alberta Spruill 57 in New York City
I could keep going but I feel sick.
Black women’s lives matter.
I will tell their stories
I will nurture the light of their memories
all the days of my life.
Black
LIFE
HRHDana 