In the wake of ongoing violence and murder at the hands of the police, black women have often been sidelined or excluded from the conversation about police brutality.
According to information compiled by #SayHerName, a campaign aimed at bring awareness to all of the women assaulted and killed by police offices, black women account for approximately 53.4% of all women stopped by the police in New York City. The report also points out that similar information, compiled by other organizations, often completely overlooks black women.
In this short video, produced by Fusion, Crystal Pope, a 25-year-old mother of two, speaks of feeling violated by male officers during a stop-and-frisk in 2012.
The family and friends of Shantel Davis also speak out. In 2012, Davis was shot by a cop after hitting a pole during a traffic accident. Reports made Davis seem like a violent criminal who had threatened the officer’s life during a struggle, right after the crash, but eyewitness accounts contradict the narrative pushed by the media.