Yesterday marked the fifth-year anniversary of the death of Sandra Bland. In 2015, Bland was pulled over by police and arrested for an alleged traffic violation in southeast Texas. She was found hanged in her cell three days later on July 15 and her death was ruled a suicide.
The death of Ms Bland, who was a Black civil rights activist and vocal about police brutality, sparked a movement and hashtag, #SayHerName, which was initially intended to uplift and protect Black cis and trans women. Since then, #SayHerName has evolved into #SayTheirNames or #SayHisName, which has signaled a loss in the hashtag’s original focus and unintentionally perpetuated Black women’s erasure from the mainstream Black Lives Matter movement.
We remember you, sister. #SandraBland pic.twitter.com/gG0xn9rYNY
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 13, 2020
Following her death in 2015, Bland’s name went viral on social media as many criticized the mistreatment she faced during her arrest, which was recorded by a police dash cam. #SandraBland and #SayHerName emerged in coordination with an online petition to call for an investigation by the Justice Department.
Sandra Bland died 5 years ago today
A reminder that #SayHerName was created that same year to challenge the notion that victims of police brutality & anti-Black violence are predominantly men and to highlight the gender-specific ways Black women are disproportionately affected
— Ivie Ani (@ivieani) July 13, 2020
Her death was considered to be a pivotal moment in the Black Lives Matter movement and intensified people’s outrage with police brutality towards Black people. It also served to shine light on the discrimination that Black women face, since the mainstream media often shapes the narrative of police brutality around Black cisgender men.
Despite Queer Black women being the revolutionaries who created the Black Lives Matter movement, the murders of Black women are often overlooked. Consider Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in March. Although Taylor was granted coverage by the media, it was conditional: her death followed that of George Floyd’s and was often covered in conjunction with his instead of a case that stood alone. Taylor’s death was taken lightly and she was not given the respect or justice she deserved. She was painted as a hard-working angel, an essential worker who deserved to be alive, but not as a human being who was shot and killed in her sleep.
anyway breonna taylors death is not a trend or tik tok dance pic.twitter.com/JwGSzSczQ5
— Olivia ✨ (@Just_Peachy_luv) July 8, 2020
Imagine you pass away tragically and receive no justice and the world turns you into:
•a meme
•a photo caption
•a Tik Tok song
•an afterthoughtThis is the harm you’ve done to Breonna Taylor and everyone who loved her.
— d (@africurls) July 8, 2020
Domenique Fells and Riah Milton, two Black trans women who died in June, were also not granted extensive media attention. Some trended for a few days and were quickly forgotten.
The problem is not that Black men are killed more. It is an issue of Black women being stripped of their voices, their womanhood, and their worth even in death.
In a way, the emergence of #SayHisName after the creation of the original hashtag takes an #AllLivesMatter approach. No one said that Black cis men’s murders should not be cared about; all they are saying is that Black trans and cis women’s lives matter, too, and because they are often overlooked, it is important to carve out terminology that is specific to them within the Black Lives Matter movement. They deserve the same media coverage, justice, and respect as their male counterparts.
Sandra Bland. Natasha McKenna. Breonna Taylor. Domenique “Remmie” Fells. Nina Pop. Brayla Stone. Merci Mack. Riah Milton. And so many others. Say their names.
#BreonnaTaylor is no longer trending and her murderers are still free. #SayHerName
— LaChanze (@laChanze) July 12, 2020
We won’t stop saying #BreonnaTaylor‘s name until they arrest Brett Hankinson, Johnathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove for her murder. #SayHerName
Dial 844-298-2731 NOW to demand city leadership get #JusticeforBre. pic.twitter.com/7IKKRULVmg
— ColorOfChange (@ColorOfChange) July 8, 2020
