#SayHerNameIntoLegislation
We’re coming upon the 2-year anniversary of the death of Sandra Annette Bland.
Bland was an African American woman who traveled to Hempstead, Texas to start a job at her alma mater Prairie View A & M University. Bland was arrested by a state trooper for failing to use her signals to change lanes. Three days after her arrest, she was found hanging in her jail cell.
Since that time, millions of people have used the name Sandra Bland to spotlight the police brutality of Black Women. One of the most important voices of the #SayHerName Movement is Sandra Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal.
Reed-Veal has continued to speak out to preserve Sandra’s legacy and memory. In August of 2016, she commemorated the name Sandra Bland in a soul-stirring speech at the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.
And just this past week, she was in Austin, Texas to testify in support of the recently drafted Sandra Bland Act. The legislation pushes for law enforcement reform measures such as mental health awareness, racial profiling prevention, and de-escalation training for police officers.
Also considered in the bill is the requirement of magistrates to be quickly notified by county sheriff offices of possible mental illnesses of inmates.
During her testimony, Read Veal, the last of 35 testifiers on the bill, said, “I don’t hate police. I hate the fact that we do not understand that this is going on too long by those who have been charged to serve and protect us.”
It is so important for Sandra Bland’s mother to say her daughter’s name.
It is equally important for the Texas legislature to say Sandra Bland’s name into legislation.
This law would symbolize an official act of reformation of the ways in which black bodies are handled by law enforcement.
It would also show that “Liberty and Justice for All” is still a concept designed to protect all people.
So in God’s name I pray that the name Sandra Bland becomes the name of a bill of equity, justice, and peace.