Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Freddie Gray. The deaths of these young men at the hands of police has galvanized a growing wave of protests across the US that some are now calling the Black Spring. But organizers want to make sure another set of names—Kyam Livingston, Rekia Boyd, Mya Hall—those of Black women and girls hurt and killed by state violence, are not forgotten.

On Thursday, May 21, organizers with Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100),  Ferguson Action and #BlackLivesMatter are calling for a national day of action to center the stories of Black women and girls whose lives have been lost to state violence. Demonstrations are planned in at least eight cities this week, including Chicago, New York City, Miami, Oakland and New Orleans.
 


 
“Although Black women are killed, raped and beaten by the police, their experiences are rarely foregrounded in our popular understanding of racialized state violence,” says the event description for a New York City #SayHerName vigil, called for Wednesday, May 20th at 5:30PM in Union Square.

On Thursday, May 21st, New Yorkers are gathering again for a 10AM action at an as-yet-unannounced location, afternoon flyering and outreach, and are supporting a 5:30PM march in Flatbush organized by the family of Kyam Livingston, who died in police custody after being denied medical treatment and suffering in a holding cell for 20 hours.

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Image via The African American Policy Forum facebook event page

In Chicago, a 7:30PM, May 21st protest at Chicago Police Department Headquarters will focus on Rekia Boyd, a young Black woman killed by off-duty Chicago police officer Dante Servin, who was recently let off on all criminal charges related to her death. Servin, “has yet to be held accountable for his actions. The courts failed to deliver justice, as Judge Dennis Porter publicly acknowledged that Servin was intent in his actions and thus guilty of a more serious charge, but ultimately opted to not convict on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter,” says a petition signed by over 4,750 people calling on the Chicago Police Board to fire Servin.

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The fight for justice for Rekia Boyd, “is not just about a day of action, it’s also about specific demands,” says Camesha Jones, an organizer with BYP100’s Chicago Chapter. The group is demanding that:

  • Dante Servin be fired from the Chicago Police Department without pension
  • The Chicago Police Department provide data on police sexual assault
  • An independent Police Accountability Board be created in Chicago

“In the media there’s often a fixation on black men, but Black women have historically been victims of police violence,” says Jones. She also noted that Black girls face a high rate of state repression and are over-represented in the criminal justice system.

The African American Policy Forum recently published a report, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected, that describes how Black girls have received criminal warrants for being late to school, and have been arrested as gradeschoolers for temper tantrums.

Transgender women face an even higher rate of violence and brutality and, “are four times more likely to experience police violence compared to all victims of police violence,” according to a 2014 report by Women’s All Points Bulletin (WAPB) that the group submitted to the United Nations Committee Against Torture. In Baltimore, just a few days before the death of Freddie Gray, a black transgender woman named Mya Hall was killed by police after crashing her car outside NSA headquarters.

INCITE!, a group working to end violence against women of color, trans & gender non-conforming people of color, is also supporting the May 21 National Day of Action. The group posted a list of five things you can do to support the campaign, including a call to follow the events on Twitter using the hashtags: #SayHerName #BlackWomensLivesmatter #BlackWomenMatter #AllBlackLivesMatter

By Rachael Perrotta @plussone