It’s been six years since #SayHerName, the movement to draw greater awareness and action around Black female victims of police and state violence, was created by the African American Policy Forum. Today, the deaths of Black women and girls at the hands of law enforcement still don’t generate the same vocal concern and outrage as that of Black men and boys. Listen as we provide historical context of that disparity. This story highlights specific stories of police murders of Black women but more importantly will help you understand the pattern of erasure that makes #sayinghername necessary.
Why is that the deaths of Black women at the hands of police don’t seem to generate as much outrage as the deaths of Black men? Is it because Black women are valued less in the Black community? Is it because Black men are targets and Black women are simply collateral damage? Is it a combination of reasons? What can be done to address this perceived lack of outrage, and put an end to the deaths of ALL Black people at the hands of police?
Featuring:
- Chanelle Helm, Organizer, Black Lives Matter-Louisville
- Byron Hurt, American Activist, Lecturer, Writer, and award-winning Documentary Filmmaker-Beyond Beats and Rhymes: Masculinity in Hip-Hop
- Richie Reseda, Founder of Success Stories
- Treva Lindsey, Professor, Ohio State University
- Robin DG Kelley, Professor, UCLA
- Wanda Johnson, Activist
- Mother of Oscar Grant
- Sheila Hines Brim, Activist
- Aunt of Wakeisha Wilson
- Bianca Austin, Activist
- Aunt of Breonna Taylor
Credits:
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Host: Thandisizwe Chimurenga
Thandisizwe Chimurenga is a Los Angeles-based writer. She has anchored the KPFK Evening News (Pacifica-Los Angeles) and reported for Free Speech Radio News. Her journalism has appeared in or at New America Media; the Los Angeles Watts Times, Sentinel and Wave newspapers; the San Francisco Bayview Newspaper; the Oakland Post Newspaper; the Final Call; Black Agenda Report; Ebony; CounterPunch, Truth-Out, TruthDig, the San Francisco Chronicle, Mint Press News and Daily Kos.
She is the author of No Doubt: The Murder(s) of Oscar Grant (2014) and Reparations … Not Yet: A Case for Reparations and Why We Must Wait (2015) and a contributor to several anthologies.
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Segment Producer: Thandisizwe Chimurenga and Anita Johnson
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Editing Producers: Sonya Green and Monica Lopez
Making Contact Staff:
- Staff Producers: Monica Lopez, Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani
- Executive Director: Sonya Green
- Director of Production Initiatives and Distribution: Lisa Rudman
Music Credits:
- Blue Dot Session
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