Many have probably have heard about what happened to a black woman named Sandra Bland in Texas a few weeks ago. A brief recap though: on Friday, July 10th, Bland was pulled over for a minor traffic violation (not using her turn signal I believe) and the situation esculated quite quickly. Bland was assaulted by the officer and eventually arrested, with the dash cam later showing no legal cause for the arrested. On the following Monday, she had been found dead of a supposed suicide.
How in the living hell does #SandraBland get stopped for a traffic violation & end up dead? Waller County, you have some explaining to do.
— 3ChicsPolitico (@3ChicsPolitico) July 16, 2015
College educated woman just got a job at her alma mater. Why would she kill herself in Texas jail cell? #SandraBland #blacklivesmatter
— BlackGroup?Think (@BlackGroupThink) July 16, 2015
Many are crying foul play for the call that Bland had committed suicide, finding the decision on how she died suspicious. Tom Clearly wrote about five things we all need to know about what has happened, including the facts that Bland was just about to start a new job at her alma mater and many friends and family members say she would not have committed suicide.
An article on Mic by Natasha Noman also brings up the fact that Bland was politically active and outspoken in the Black Lives Matter movement and posted videos on social media talking about racial injustice within the US. And apparently, she had attempted to post bail after being arrested. DeRay McKesson also toured Waller County Jail (where Bland was being jailed) and shows how someone could have harmed Sandra Bland without being caught on camera.
Hashtags on Twitter and other social media platforms have been calling for more in depth look at what really happened to Sandra:
- #JusticeForSandy
- #JusticeForSandraBland
- #WhatHappenedToSandyBland
- #SandraBland
- #SayHerName – a related hashtag calling for the attention to the killings of black women because of police brutality and violence