Thread by @RFentonMD

Why we need to talk about policing of ALL Black folks, not just men:

The #SayHerName hashtag (by @sandylocks) was a call for attention to Black women murdered by police i.e. #MaKhiaBryant and how our expectation that this issue only affects Black men misses the full picture.

The African American Policy Forum released a report entitled Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women in 2015 to highlight this overlooked issue. Later that same year, #SandraBland died while incarcerated and still ruled a suicide.

static1.squarespace.com/static/53f20d9…

.@washingtonpost has been tracking police killings since 2015 and found by 9/2020, 247 women had been killed by police, 48 (19.4%) were Black women. What names do you hear most often or see in a hashtag? Killings of Black women receive less attention.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/…

In absolute numbers, Black men are killed by police more than any race/gender group, with a lifetime risk of 1 in 1000. Black women have a lifetime risk of 2.4 to 5.4 per 100,000. But inequities exist even though women are 20x less likely to be killed.

pnas.org/content/116/34…

The study above found Black men are 2.5x more likely to be killed by police than white men and women are 1.4x more likely to be killed than white women. Black girls and women are still at increased risk and need their perspectives heard in conversations about police brutality.

In Chicago, you can compare #RekiaBoyd’s and #LaquanMcDonald’s cases below. It took 617 days of marching for the officer who killed Rekia to get charged and he was ultimately acquitted and still receives pension. Laquan’s case two years later received more media and a sentence.

Nationally, we saw a similar delay between #GeorgeFloyd and #BreonnaTaylor.

Conversations about school policing, when they even happen, tend to center the experiences of Black boys and ignore the experiences of girls. @MoniqueWMorris’s highlights the criminalization of girls.

In her book Pushout, Dr. Morris describes how Black girls are seen as “bad” or having an attitude when they speak up or act in defiance of the norms of white femininity. They are more likely to be kicked out of class, arrested, suspended, or expelled than white girls.

The intersection of Black race and gender is key because Black women & girls are more likely to report sexual harassment or assault by police, crimes that are already underreported regardless of perpetrator. Even HS girls have described school officers talking about their bodies.

Police violence against girls and women is not just spill-over from Black men. It is misogynoir. Adultification is actually WORSE for Black girls than boys. Black girls are seen as less innocent and worthy of protection at age 5 versus 10 for boys.

law.georgetown.edu/news/research-…

Convos about policing and criminalization in schools need to include Black women and girls because the solutions they need may require a different approach.

Black girls still need “the talk”. I’ve personally been pulled over 3 times and am grateful for the prep from my parents.

Note: this thread is unfortunately constrained to the male/female binary based on available data, but all Black folks need liberation from police violence and trans and non-binary Black folks have unique experiences that need to be addressed, including misgendering by police.

For more reading besides the links above, check out Pushout by @MoniqueWMorris (there’s a book and documentary!)
pushoutfilm.com/book

I’m also planning to read Invisible No More by @dreanyc123
goodreads.com/book/show/3202…