AM I NOT HUMAN?

Rekia Boyd.


Are you familiar with this name?  You might be if you tend to keep up with the news.  But if you tend to shun away from stories involving murder, then you might not know what happened to this young woman.


Rekia Boyd was shot and killed by an off duty Chicago Police Detective on March 24, 2012.  






This video from ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago, provides the details of the incident that ended this 22 year old woman's life.





As you can see there was already conflicting stories about what actually occurred. 


Here is a video featuring the other victim in this shooting.  The man who "pulled his gun" on the detective.

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There is an obvious problem with the off-duty detective's version of this shooting death.  There was no gun at all. There were no charges brought against Antonio Cross for possession of a weapon.


Rekia Boyd's family has filed a wrongful death suit against Detective Dante Servin. The lawsuit was filed on April 5, 2012. 


This is just one in a series of shootings involving African Americans by police officers. Since January of this year there have been 27 males and 1 female shot during interactions with the police.  Each one of those encounters were of a suspicious nature since it noted that the suspects were not armed at the time. You can see the entire case summary on the blog Davey D's Hip Hop Corner by clicking here.


The reason that Rekia Boyd is featured in this month's Am I Not Human post is simple.  There was no national outcry for this young sista's death by African Americans.  It does truly bother me as a Black woman that there was not a national push to make people aware of this young woman's shooting death. Yet, there were males who were shot who have received more attention that Rekia.  And I am not just talking about Trayvon Martin. There have been other shootings of unarmed Black people by the police that have been highlighted far more intensely than Rekia's death. A petition at Change.org did not have enough signatures to submit because less than 500 people had signed it a month ago.  There should not have been a problem with meeting the 4,000 signature goal. 


It is time for all of us to recognize that our gender does not exclude us from becoming victims of the police.  We have to help support the families of those people who were shot and killed in questionable circumstances.


You can read the details of the Boyd family lawsuit here.

Please visit The Roots of Humanity to read other stories about Human Rights violations and related issues.