"Your silence will not protect you." Audre Lorde's quote is profoundly fitting for a time such as this, as family, friends, supporters and a vocal social media community continue to seek answers and justice for the death of Sandra Bland who senselessly lost her life, ultimately at the hands of police. One week ago today, Sandra Bland, a vibrant 28-year-old from Chicago's northwestern suburbs, was found dead in her cell after being questionably held in the Waller County jail three days for a minor traffic violation. As the story began to unfold and spread last week, in large part due to the #WhatHappenedToSandraBland hash tag, conflicting reports surfaced about whether or not the family wanted people to share and post about Bland's story. This morning, the family put any confusion or misinformation to rest.
A message posted to the DuPage AME Facebook page states:
I want to take a moment to say THANK YOU! For your love, support and continued encouragement during my sister Sandra Bland's untimely death. My apologies for any miscommunications you've received in terms of social media activity. Just a point of clarification on behalf of my family: PLEASE keep posting! PLEASE keep Tweeting! Please keep Instagraming! Please keep the conversation going as we all want to know#whathappenedtosandrabland #justiceforsandy #sandySTILLspeaks #sayhername #SandraBland
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My heartfelt thanks to you all xoxo
At the time of being pulled over on July 10, Sandra Bland was driving through Prairie View, Texas, preparing to begin a new life and new job at Prairie View A&M University, where she graduated in 2008 and was a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Bystander phone video footage shows Bland being assaulted by the arresting officers, with her at one point exclaiming, “You just slammed my head into the ground. Do you not even care about that?”.
On Sunday, DuPage African Episcopal Methodist Church, where Bland was an active member, held a silent prayer walk in her memory. While speaking to the press, Pastor Miller shared, “Let me say this, I’m no expert on entitlement and double standard, but I know that when elected officials can defy the Supreme Court the highest court in the land and openly defy it and get re-elected, and people get pulled over for not signaling for traffic and end up dead, something is wrong.”
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An independent autopsy has been conducted. In a recent interview with Roland Martin, Sharon Cooper, Bland's sister and family spokesperson, expressed the family's grief. “It is disheartening. We are an extremely close-knit family. We are just frustrated that we couldn’t be there to protect our baby girl. She called home on Saturday to let us know she was in jail. That was the last time we spoke to her."
We all can be there for Sandra now, as we collectively lift our digital voices for answers. Continue to share articles, Tweet, Instagram and everything else you have access to. We have our marching orders directly from the family and there WILL be #JusticeForSandy.
