The verdict in the serial rape case of Daniel Holtzclaw might come as soon as today. We need to show that Holtzclaw and his attorney were wrong in assuming that no one would believe or care about 13 Black women who testified that the former cop targeted and assaulted them. Without our collective resistance, the police officer's power, along with the long-standing hierarchies that diminish the value and autonomy of Black women, gives law enforcement the license to abuse with impunity. This is one of the least talked about consequences of the hyper-surveillance and mass punishment of Black communities.
As the testimony against Holtzclaw reveals, women who are or have been system-involved, poor, substance abusers, or just in the wrong place at the wrong time, are ready targets for police abuse. Women here, like in other militarized zones around the world, are almost always vulnerable to those who are supposedly exercising official authority.
If we mean it when we say #BlackWomenMatter, we have to make it plain that state violence against Black bodies includes sexual abuse. We have to demand accountability for these crimes in the same way we demand accountability for the killing of Black people.
TODAY, let's show up -- virtually and in person -- to protest the sexual and physical assault on Black women by police.
Join Barbara Arnwine's "Igniting Change" at noon EST, broadcasting from OKC, as we await the verdict (Livestream available HERE). Listen to attorneys, activists, and people directly impacted by predatory actions under law.
At 1:00 EST, after the broadcast, let's create a Twitter storm in support the Peaceful Protest called by Artists for Justice, using the hashtags #Holtzclaw, #SayHerName, and #WeWantLife. We can send a message that the rape of Black women will no longer go down as usual business.
Fierce activists like Rosa Parks started the movement to hold police accountable for the abuse and rape of Black women; it's time for us now to finish it. Not. One. More.
About the AfricanAmericanPolicyForum Founded in 1996, AAPF was developed as part of an ongoing effort to promote women’s rights in the context of struggles for racial equality. It serves as an information clearinghouse that works to bridge the gap between scholarly research and public debates on questions of inequality, discrimination and injustice.
