Know the names, #SayHerName

I am putting this in GDP because I think it might end up having primary discussion. But it is not what this post is about

I posted this back in March. It received little attention. I'm reposting so people know the names of the women murdered by police or while in custody. So people can, #SayHerName

I am also adding Sandra Bland. This is so tragic and there is no doubt she terrorized and beaten badly. She was murdered by these assholes in my opinion, and the proof is in the video. "You slammed my head into the ground" "I can't hear" "I can't feel my arms" the last thing we hear her say, "Thank you for recording. "

One of the articles about Sandra Bland by Shaun King http://m.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/17/1403147/-7-important-questions-about-the-arrest-assault-and-death-of-Sandra-Bland

It's been four months since Sheneque Proctor died under suspicious circumstances in an Alabama police department's holding cell. This 18 year old, mother of an infant son, was admittedly no angel. However, that didn't give the police the right to treat her as they did. She was slammed on to a police vehicle before being cuffed and thrown, roughly, into the car. Sheneque had asthma and was pepper sprayed at least twice. She informed the police about her asthma and the fact she was having problems breathing. She was found dead in her cell just a little more than 13 short hours after she was booked.

The autopsy says she died from a polydrug overdose. Yet the surveillance video, which had been promised to Sheneque's family, has still not been released. The cops claim she was checked on every half hour. They claim she was decontaminated after she was pepper sprayed. If there was no foul play and no neglect, why not release the video?

Rekia Boyd was fatally shot in the back of the head by an off duty, Chicago police officer. The 37 year old mother was just standing with friends in an ally when Dante Servin shot 5 times, over his shoulder, through the back window of his vehicle, because he "thought" he saw a gun pointed at him by a male in the group of friends with Rekia. Servin has been indicted but after almost 3 years, he still hasn't gone to trial.

Shereese Francis was a young woman with schizophrenia who had not been taking her medication. Shereese's mother called the police for help ,hoping to have her daughter put into a mental health facility. Instead, with police using excessive force, pounding and pushing on Ms. Francis' prone body on her bed, they killed her. Though there was a civil suit that the family won, no criminal charges were brought against any of the four officers that tackled and crushed her to death

There are so many more stories like these. At least four women killed in no knock raids that were either the wrong home or had nothing to do with them. This includes the murder of the sleeping child, Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Many of these names are unfamiliar to most people, even though their deaths were at the hands of the police and the women were unarmed. Alesia Thomas, Malissa Williams, Shelly Frey and most recently, Yuvette Henderson and Natasha McKenna.

Besides the outright murder of women of color by police, the number of deaths and sexual assault of women of color behind bars seems to go unnoticed and not addressed.

A recent report by the African American Policy Forum, Black Girls Matter, addresses the problems starting from schools through incarceration and potential solutions. It was authored by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw and Dr. Luke Harris.

The current movement to end police violence against people of color, the outright murder of young black men especially, is a noble and needed demand for equality, transparency, justice and end to the racial profiling as well as impunity of police. What is lacking in the movement is the inclusion of women of color who are systematically abused and killed by police and guards.

Interview with Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw and Dr. Luke Harris and link to the report Black Girls Matter

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/29365-black-girls-matter-an-interview-with-kimberle-crenshaw-and-luke-harris

Article about Sheneque Proctor
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/09/black-alabama-teenager-died-police-cell-sheneque-proctor

Truth Out To Die in an Alabama Cell
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/29300-to-die-in-an-alabama-cell

More articles and blog posts about women of color and police brutality
http://www.ravishly.com/2015/02/09/convo-why-arent-we-outraged-when-police-kill-black-women

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/woman-died-violently-at-hands-of-fairfax-county-sheriffs-lawyer-says/2015/02/14/09f4c84a-b3be-11e4-886b-c22184f27c35_story.html

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6644276

Original post with more names in responses
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026295819

February post on Sheneque Proctor and still, no video released.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026228333

Please remember all these women when you discuss the #BlackLivesMatter movement, any of the candidates and especially when you use the words #SayHerName