“The Constitution they wrote was designed to protect the rights of white, male citizens. As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no foun
“The Constitution they wrote was designed to protect the rights of white, male citizens. As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no founding mothers – a great pity, on both counts.
It is not too late to complete the work they left undone. Today, here, we should start to do so.” ~ Shirley Chisholm
‘It’s strange how loudly some people rail against “identity politics,” yet stay silent about the injustices that made identity politics necessary in the first place.
You say you’re tired of hearing about race, gender, disability, or inequality—
but not tired of the systems that harm people for having those identities.Violent police officers should alarm every decent human being.
Photo by Joice Kelly
Yet some shrug, as if brutality only matters when it crosses their doorstep.Many of us see through it.
We know that your comfort is built on the illusion that you’ll never be a target.
That your safety will always be guaranteed.But the day that illusion cracks—
when the same system turns on you—
you’ll call for the same voices you dismissed.
You’ll demand that Black people once again fill the streets,
risking our lives and bodies to defend a justice you ignored when it was ours alone.That’s not solidarity.
That’s exploitation in a borrowed moment of fear.Justice should not depend on who’s in the crosshairs today.
If it isn’t for all of us, it’s only a temporary privilege.Black women can’t trust a system that fails to support them over and over and over and over again.
Was this level of violence necessary over a parking violation?
I am a parent.
I have parked in the wrong space at school at least once. It happens.
In fact it was a rainy day just like the day in this recording. My baby had either had surgery or was about to. That’s what it always was for us.
I didn’t want him to get soaked and explaining all that to the traffic monitor would have taken more time. Especially since there was no way for drivers to drop off kids with a physical need in front of the school. I opted to protect him.
Fine. No excuses. I broke your rule. This is what traffic infractions, fines, and fees are for. But if you are a woman…and Black too? Every wrongdoing is not an excuse or opportunity to fight or harm citizens. You know that “sometimes”. You have to know it all of the time.
That day, I took the consequences and life went on. I’m a mom. That’s a mom’s life sometimes. If you don’t know about that life, you can’t speak on it with expertise. Just bluff and conjecture.
That’s how this should have gone but did not. It’s a traffic infraction not a rape, murder, or child being harmed.
As the video shows, there was punching, arm twisting, hair pulling, throwing, usage of feet on her upper body area. An extreme and unnecessary amount of force.
No murder. No rape. No child abuse. She is a Black woman though. So, when the energy of racism and misogyny comes together….well, we’ve seen this before and we’ve heard the silence before.
And this was while being recorded and without regard for the impact on her child or any other children on that campus.
What could women expect who call the police officers to their private home? As an advocate, I can tell you that it has involved everything from sexual harassment to further violence. We also know that Black women have been murdered by law enforcement.
Black women have every reason to hesitate before making a call to 9-1-1 for police.
Photo by Markus Spiske/Unsplash.com
My work, listening to and serving women, and my own personal experience has unrolled this unfortunate truth.
We deserve political leaders that address this violence by police officers against Black people with no less than courage and integrity.
Black women have learned, through history and hard experience, that they cannot rely on systems never built with their safety in mind. The same structures that once ignored their pain still fail to protect them today.
And yet, Black women continue to protect one another — creating circles of care, rebuilding trust through community, and daring to demand better.
Until every institution values the safety of Black women as sacred, we will keep doing what we have always done: protecting ourselves, our children, and one another.
This is why people do not talk to cops or call them. Because they have no problem playing resorting to violence in an instant or what the rest of us know as….having complete lack of emotional control. Women hesitate or don’t call the police at all because at least her partner is the devil she knows.
That makes a lot of men rejoice until we remind them that a lot of mass shooters of random school children and other folks trying to have an ordinary day started out as domestic violence offenders. Add family annihilators to that list too. Violence begets more violence.
***PS….Where are the political leaders who are demanding safe spaces and safe protective practices for Black women?
Where are the women’s rights advocates and activists? The other genders?
The people who “like/love” Black culture?
How about those groups that demand that we prioritize foreign issues while ignoring our own safety here on THIS soil? Our safety and those of our children ought not matter. We’re just here to mule for others. Right?!
How many times do we have to tell people that no one can help anyone unless we first help ourselves?
Remember these moments. Who shows up. Who does not. Who blames you for being harmed violently and claims that “you deserve it.” Like every abuser.
These moments here are genuine “never forget” moments.
That’s why people do not talk to cops or call them.
⚠️ GRAPHIC CONTENT ⚠️
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested a Black mother outside her child’s school after an officer confronted her about leaving her car illegally parked and unattended. This level of force on an unarmed woman in a school pick-up line is outrageous!
🎥:… pic.twitter.com/AutcttKI9N
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) October 11, 2025
Was this level of violence necessary over a parking violation?
And this was while being recorded and without regard for the impact on her child or any other children on that campus.
What could women expect who call the police officers to their private home? As an advocate, I can tell you that it has involved everything from sexual harassment to further violence. We also know that Black women have been murdered by law enforcement.
Black women have every reason to hesitate before making a call to 9-1-1 for police.
We deserve political leaders that address this violence by police officers against Black people with no less than courage and integrity.
Black women have learned, through history and hard experience, that they cannot rely on systems never built with their safety in mind. The same structures that once ignored their pain still fail to protect them today.
And yet, Black women continue to protect one another — creating circles of care, rebuilding trust through community, and daring to demand better.
Until every institution values the safety of Black women as sacred, we will keep doing what we have always done: speaking truth, protecting ourselves, our children, and one another.