Black Women's Lives Matter, Too

Commentary by National Urban League President Marc Morial

Recent events in McKinney, Texas, show that racially-motivated police brutality is not limited to young black men. A cell-phone video showing a snarling police officer brutalizing 14-year-old Dajerria Becton has led to the resignation of the officer and possible criminal charges.

While women have been at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter Movement, female victims of police brutality have gone largely ignored. The social media campaign #SayHerName is an effort to confront the reality that women are victims, too, and their names are seldom heard.

While Dajerria’s case has exploded onto the national scene, others remain relatively unknown: 22 year old Rekia Boyd was walking with friends in Chicago when an off-duty police officer who thought they were making too much noise fired five shots over his shoulder while sitting in his car. The officer was acquitted of all charges in her death. Yvette Smith was shot and killed while following a deputy sheriff’s order to come out of her home. The deputy is awaiting trial. Natasha McKenna died when officers used a stun gun on her while she was handcuffed. Her death was ruled accidental. The list goes on and on.