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As we continue celebrating Black History Month, it is important for us to remember those who died at the hands of injustice and became the catalysts that reignited the movements that demand civil rights for Black people. Sandra Bland and Trayvon Martin should be celebrating their birthdays with family, friends, and loved ones.
February 7 would have been Sandra Bland’s 34th birthday. But Bland, a 28-year-old Black woman, was stopped by police for a supposed minor traffic violation, which escalated to Sandra’s arrest for assaulting an officer. Recorded video from her own cell phone, along with dash and body camera videos from the officers involved, clearly show how they ordered Sandra out of her car to arrest her. She did not touch an officer ONCE during their entire exchange. Even more alarming is the fact that Sandra died in police custody by a supposed suicide at the Waller County Jail in Texas. Details surrounding Sandra’s death are sketchy and alarming. Several abrasions were found on her back and wrists in her autopsy report. There have also been suspicions that Sandra was already dead and positioned by police when her mugshot was taken because her locks were hanging back towards her background instead of towards the floor, which also served as the background for her mugshot. We’ve seen “suicide” ruled as a cause of death for Black people several times although circumstances and evidence clearly show otherwise.
Say Her Name: SANDRA BLAND.
Over the weekend, family and friends would have celebrated the 26th birthday of Trayvon Martin, February 5, who could have graduated from high school, college, started a promising career as an aerospace engineer (he attended Space Camp), and maybe even started a family. But his life was tragically cut short at 17 when 28-year-old George Zimmerman decided to stalk and shoot Trayvon to death. What’s even more alarming is George Zimmerman was acquitted for murdering an innocent Black teenage boy who was visiting his father and decided to walk to a nearby 7-11 in Sanford, Florida for Skittles and an Arizona Tea. Through the heartbreak and pain of losing a child to a racially motivated murder, Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, managed to gather the strength to advocate for social change through ending gun violence, police reform, and educating concerned citizens about racism and inequality.
Say His Name: TRAYVON MARTIN.
Why We Need To Know:
“Just do what the police tell you… Comply with what you’re being told to do,” and other excuses were the explanations Black people were given as a means to understand how to deescalate situations similar to Sandra Bland and Trayvon Martin. Why should we as Black people be compliant with blatant racism? Why should we as Black people continue to be stalked, accused, and murdered like we’ve been for the hundreds of years we’ve been here by force? We are free, we deserve fair treatment and justice under all circumstances, and we want to be left alone so we can fully enjoy our lives without fearing for it being taken after a traffic stop or a quick walk to the store for a pack of Skittles and an Arizona Tea.
Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland deserve to be uplifted with our voices every chance we get. It is truly sad, unfortunate, and unfair that their birthdays are memorialized. However, the beauty in it all is that we have come together and gained global attention which has shown the truth about America, stricken the conscience of its citizens, and initiated the transformations we’ve deserved for so long. Yes, we still have work to do, but as Sam Cooke told us in 1964, “A change gonna come,” and in some ways it has started to do so.
SOURCE:
https://sybilwilkes.com/2021/02/say-her-name-sandra-bland-say-his-name-trayvon-martin/
