Tag: #sandyspeaks
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Sandra Bland Believed in You
*Cover photo by Lamarcus Feggins, @differentworldimages On January 14, 2015, a bold, brilliant, 28 year old African American woman held a phone up in front of her face and began to speak. “Hey, y’all… so… I don’t know where to look…” she said with a smile that could charm the sting off a bee. Rarely has…
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Congresswoman to DOJ: Investigate Death of Sandra Bland
On December 22, 2015, a politician told the truth. You may not have heard about it. It did not make headlines. Truth, especially the kind that makes people uncomfortable, is not quite as appealing for the news to cover as a white man with a famously pompadour-style comb-over insulting people to the cheers of his fans.…
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The Eyes Behind Us: Final Day of Sandra Bland Grand Jury
*This is the blog you write when your writing pen and your phone are your only form of defense while walking amongst armed men and women, and you hope that somehow those tools can make the people you care about safer. In the third floor Courtroom of the Waller County Courthouse, the Grand Jury finished their discussion…
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100 Days With Sandra Bland… And Counting
There’s an image burned into my memory that never goes away. I see it more and more this week as I approach the 100th Day of standing in solidarity with Sandra Bland. When I close my eyes, I see two women sitting side by side, one in a black and white patterned dress, the other in…
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Why We Say Her Name: Sandra Bland
As she arrived at the security check and showed her I.D., the airport agent’s eyes welled with tears at the sight of Sandra Bland’s mother; proving that even TSA is not immune to the power of her story and presence. This has become the new normal for the Bland family as Sandra’s voice strikes a…
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When Bernie Promised to #SayHerName #SandraBland
To put your money where your mouth is and support Sandra’s family go to the Sandra Bland Legal Fund; keep track of the movement at SandySpeaksOn.com “That’s Bernie Sanders,” my sister said, indicating an unpretentious man with a full head of white hair that had slipped past me and tucked himself into a table in the…
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Sandra Bland In A Sea of Red: Remembering The Names We Forget
“Hey, I am from Houston,” I said recognizing the gentle face of the woman walking next to me among the families of those lost to police brutality walking together to the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March. Behind us in a sea of red shirts was Trayvon Martin’s mother, ahead of us Michael Brown’s…
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Sandra Bland & The Heart of An Aunt
“It’s okay, she understands,” my sister said on the end of the line. “It will really be okay if she doesn’t get to see you. She understands that you have priorities. Pain cut a line down from the area right behind my chin to a spot in the middle of my chest, and my breath…
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Why Where Sandra Bland Died is as Important as How
For over 50 days, I have been receiving messages on social media telling me what a fool I am for standing in solidarity with the bold and vivacious activist, Sandra Bland. While the messages vary in their intensity, most of them have two things in common: 1) they know nothing about Sandra Bland and are…
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50 Days Later: Still Grieving, Called, Woke
On the 49th day of being in prayerful solidarity with Sandra Bland, I sat in the corner of a coffee shop at the close of one more day in front of the Waller County Jail. I fielded phone calls and messages about an angry video released by a white supremacist. Concern for our safety was not a…
Hannah Adair Bonner 