Jazmine Headley
On December 7 of 2018, Jazmine Headley, a single mother, had gone to a public benefits office in Brooklyn, New York to find out why the public assistance she had receiving for her young son to attend day care had suddenly been cut off. Headley had taken a day off of work to make the trip to the office, and ended up having to take her son along because he could not attend daycare that day. Headley had planned for the trip to be quick to the office to be a quick one, but it ended up turning into a four hour ordeal. As time passed, she grew tired of waiting and had seen that all of the chairs in the waiting area had already been taken, which prompted her to take a seat against a wall with her one year old son. Soon after, Headley was approached by a “peace officer,” who rudely told her to move because she was blocking a fire zone. The actions that followed lead to complete chaos as Headley was violently pried away from her one year old son and dragged away in handcuffs. It was later determined that she was indeed not blocking any kind on fire exit.
The entire incident was caught on cell phone videos and widely distributed online, this quickly caught the public's attention. Headley appeared in front of the City Council of New York on Monday February 4th, and recounted her experience that day. She states “It’s not the fact that I was arrested. It was the harsh way that I was treated by people who are supposed to help me. In my case, I was just sitting. A peaceful act.” After recounting her story in front of the council, she received a standing ovation and sincere apologies from its members. Corey Johnson, the council speaker is quoted saying, “I am similarly deeply, deeply grateful for your bravery, for you wanting to tell your story, for you wanting to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.” Since the incident, one guard has resigned and the city is in the process of firing another. Headley’s experience has since then brought awareness to the long waits, poor service, disdain from caseworkers, security, and police officers towards people who go to the public benefits offices each day. I believe Jasmine Headley’s testimony in significant because it is just one of many experiences that involve police brutality towards a woman of color that has managed to scratch the public surface. It is a story that influenced change and resulted in apologies for wrongful doing. I believe that this occurrence is rare and monumental, and can serve as an example to spark change.
Larger Issues
Like Jazmine Headley, many women of color have been victims of state violence and unfair treatment. Whether they are at school (https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/29/us/student-death-classroom-fight-south-carolina/index.html), walking down the street (https://www.wbaltv.com/article/18-year-old-woman-dies-after-triple-shooting-in-west-baltimore/26795691), or doing something as simple as sitting such as Headley was, it seems that the common denominator of all of their stories is that they were wrongfully treated strictly based off of their skin color. The only key difference is that their stories aren’t always central to the public eye. Headley claims that her experience is “The story of many other people, it’s not just my story. My story is the only one that made it to the surface.” Headley’s awareness of this highlights the lack of attention that the U.S. gives to women of color who have been succumbed to state violence. The lack of attention towards the greater issue is why state violence has become a cyclical issue. Headley’s story serves as a testimony and is a step towards the acknowledgement of the issue that many of women of color in the U.S. face. It seems that women of color are mistreated simply for living their daily lives. The actions of public officials in Headley’s case should serve as an example to public officials throughout the U.S. in its entirety. Headley’s story takes on a different approach to #SayHerName, and brings awareness to the different experiences to other women behind the movement.
Taking Action
There always seems to be a question of “What can we do?” when it comes to attempting to implement change. But I believe the real question that we should be asking ourselves is “When are we going to do something?” Obviously, the problem of state violence towards women of color isn’t going to go away overnight, but there should be more preventative measures taken to bring the issue into the light. The first one being learning the correct vocabulary to access the situation, you cannot have the the conversations that need to happen without the correct terms. For example, intersectionality as coined by Kimberle Crenshaw is way to acknowledge the different experiences and backgrounds of women of color. It serves as a way to not group women of color into an overarching category, each women is different and has her own story to tell, I believe the acknowledgement of intersectionality outside of the feminist community can serve as a way for people outside of it to have the courageous conversations about racial issues. This is a step towards justice for women of color and is a way for them to reach visibility in a country that has rendered their oppressions as invisible.
Furthermore, in Bell Hooks “Ain’t I a Woman?” she discusses the romanticized narrative of overcoming oppression for Black women. It discusses society having the expectation that Black women are thought of to be “strong” and “independent,” but in reality, Black women have had no other choice but to be strong in the face of bigotry and racism. This can be applied on a broader scale when discussing all women of color by saying that we as society cannot assume that women of color are pre-programmed to act a certain way. This kind of thinking is dangerous and contributes to the continuation of the issue. Overall, learning the correct terminology and acknowledging the different intersections of women can be beneficial in taking the needed steps for other women of color to get the justice they deserve.
Jazmine Headley in front of the Coucil of New York:
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Post made by: Megan Souvanna