Community of Loss, Community of Care

Unrecognized Deaths of Black Women

Kimberlé Crenshaw, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote a disturbing opinion piece in The New Times. She notes that when we talk about police brutality against people of color, we seem to overlook the women.

Crenshaw talks about the concept of intersectionality in her TED Talk in 2016 – women of color face both race and gender discrimination.

She asks the audience to become aware of black women who have faced death at the hands of the police, and to remember them.

The most recent, or at least the most recent that made the news, was Atatiana Jefferson in Fort Worth, Texas. She was in her own home, playing video games with her nephew, late at night. A neighbor noticed that her door was slightly ajar and called the police welfare line, not 911.

Two policemen went to the house and sneaked around the back without announcing themselves. The nephew said she took a gun from her purse when she heard noises outside. One of the policemen saw her through a window, shouted at her to put up her hands, and shot her within seconds. According to the account in the Daily Beast, “It is not clear if Dean [the shooter] saw the weapon.”

Crenshaw recalls the names of many other women of color who were killed at the hands of the police. She says there is a community of grieving families who lost women they loved at the hands of police.

She says in her article, “All black people would be safer with police reforms that reduce their interactions with law enforcement in public and at home. Black women are more likely than black men to engage with police officers when they knock on doors making welfare or mental health checks. These seemingly benign non-emergency calls can put them at risk.”

A 2017 Texas legislative act requires police officers to undergo de-escalation training to prevent exactly such events as this death. “But it’s unclear whether the officer who killed Atatiana Jefferson underwent such training; his behavior on the night of her death suggests that neither he nor his partner followed police protocol,” Crenshaw says.

Fewer Guns Overall Could Help

If there were fewer guns in the hands of all citizens, the police would have fewer reasons (excuses?) to fear being shot!

This past Sunday at our Unitarian Church we heard two speakers who talked about turning guns into plowshares. Well, not exactly plowshares, whatever those are, but into gardening tools.

Jeremy Stein, Executive Director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, encouraged us all to lobby our legislators for action against guns, especially assault rifles. Jim Curry, Bishop Suffragan (retired) The Episcopal Church, told us about taking guns off the streets and turning them into tools. After the service he demonstrated the transformation process with his forge in the church courtyard.

You can read about the speakers and the demonstration in Dan Woog’s blog. Thanks, Dan, for sharing this information.

Fall Follies Pictures

Last time I wrote about our lively celebration called Fall Follies at the Unitarian Church. In the opening skit, I played myself – the treasurer – and announced that our capital campaign had achieved overwhelming success.

Now we had to figure out what to do with all the extra cash!

In a later skit, a dealer wants to plant drugs in our Meditation Garden, which he calls the Medication Garden.

This event, like so much of what we do, how we worship, ways we support each other, helps us build a strong sense of community. As many congregants say, the sense of belonging and being part of a group is one of the reasons they are there.

Follies reminds us of community and lets us share laughs with each other. I promised you pictures.

What African Novel Should Be a Movie?

The blog Brittle Paper which I’ve referenced many times sent this post. How would you respond?

https://brittlepaper.com/2019/10/brittlepaperreaders-decide-what-book-by-an-african-author-needs-to-be-made-into-a-movie-asap/