I have spent a vast amount of time on social media platforms (I need entertainment as I work my desk job during the day), and over a course of a day, I scroll past nearly hundreds of posts that include a hashtag of a victim’s name, synopsis of recent police brutality instances, complaints about American society (or all three). As I sat at my desk on Wednesday, the anniversary of Sandra Bland’s unfortunate and untimely death last year, I found myself debating on if I should make a post acknowledge her memory and the fact that cases of deaths similar to hers are still happening without consequence a year later.
On July 13, 2015, Bland was found dead, hanging in her cell at the Waller County Jail in Hempstead, Texas, just three short days after being arrested. Dashcam footage of her violent arrest sparked national outrage, particularly in the black community. Her death was ruled a suicide by a medical examiner, and her arresting officer was not indicted for homicide. Bland has been commemorated in many ways, including hashtags and posts on social media.
#SayHerName, #RestInPeace, #SandraBland, #BlackLivesMatter… all common hashtags that come to mind when addressing Bland, along with some personal analysis of what happened to her and the mourning of her memory… When it comes to these posts. I found myself scrolling more, hoping it would help me coin something to say, and in the end, I ended up not posting. Not because I don’t care about the issue, not because I am not saddened by her death, but because I am tired of posting for the same people to see and “like.”
“Black women are still too often the invisible victims of the cultural epidemic that is police brutality. The list of black women who have died during encounters with the police in the last decade is painfully long,” said Zeba Bay, a writer for the Black Voices section of the Huffington Post in a recent article centered around Bland. “Spanning 2003 to 2014, their names include Tanisha Anderson, Yvette Smith, Miriam Carey, Shelly Frey, Darnisha Harris, Malissa Williams, Shantel Davis, Rekia Boyd, Shereese Francis, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Tarika Wilson, Alberta Spruilli and Kendra James.”
The recent killings of Black Americans: Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Alva Braziel, in addition to countless others within such a short time frame, are those that I, as a part of many groups have to acknowledge. The fact that I am black, the fact that I am a woman, the fact that I am a part of a minority and the fact that I am American, all put me in a place where I feel obligated to use these hashtags.
Also during my scrolling, I see that many millennials agree with me on the subject. The idea “Just Another Hashtag,” in explanation, is the idea that as many victims are slain by police officers in our country, and a hashtag is created and shared in their name, there’s just another hashtag to follow soon after with another victim and another occurrence of the same crime. It makes the statement that every death is not just another hashtag with the purpose of signifying loss or tragedy.
