>> Sreenivasan: THE PROTESTS SET
OFF BY THE KILLING OF GEORGE
FLOYD IN MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA,
ARE BEING LED BY A NEW
GENERATION OF YOUNG ACTIVISTS,
MANY WHO ALSO WANT TO BRING MORE
ATTENTION TO THE STORIES OF
POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK
WOMEN.
I SPOKE RECENTLY WITH KEISHA
BLAIN, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF
HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
PITTSBURGH AND AUTHOR OF "SET
THE WORLD ON FIRE: BLACK
NATIONALIST WOMEN AND THE GLOBAL
STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM."
DR. BLAIN, IT SEEMS, AS WE HAVE
THIS NATIONAL CONVERSATION
THAT'S BEEN PROMPTED IN PART BY
GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH, THAT THERE
IS SOMETHING ELSE THAT WE'RE
MISSING WHEN IT COMES TO AN
ENTIRE GENDER THAT'S STRUGGLING
WITH THE SAME THINGS.
>> YES, I THINK SO.
IN FACT, MANY ACTIVISTS IN THE
LAST FEW WEEKS HAVE BEEN
POINTING OUT THE FACT THAT EVEN
BEFORE THE POLICE KILLING OF
GEORGE FLOYD, BREONNA TAYLOR WAS
KILLED BY THE POLICE, AN E.M.T.
WORKER IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.
AND ACTIVISTS HAVE BEEN
INSISTING THAT WE REALLY PAY
ATTENTION TO THIS CASE.
TO THIS VERY DAY, THE POLICE
OFFICERS WHO-- WHO KILLED TAYLOR
HAVE NOT BEEN ARRESTED.
AND I THINK MORE AND MORE PEOPLE
ARE SURELY TALKING ABOUT BRIANNA
TAYLOR, BUT THAT WAS JUST ONE
EXAMPLE OF HOW BLACK WOMEN'S
EXPERIENCES ARE OFTEN SIDELINED
IN NATIONAL NARRATIVES ABOUT
AMERICAN POLICING.
>> Sreenivasan: THERE WAS A
WHOLE "SAY HER NAME" CAMPAIGN
THAT WAS QUITE SUCCESSFUL IN
TRYING TO RAISE AWARENESS OF IT,
BUT IT WASN'T SOMETHING THAT--
AND IT STILL ISN'T SOMETHING
THAT CREATES THE SAME KIND OF
HEADLINES.
WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
>> WELL, CERTAINLY, I THINK THE
DATA REVEALS TO US THAT THE
MAJORITY OF BLACK PEOPLE THAT
ARE-- WHO ARE KILLED BY POLICE
ARE YOUNG BLACK MEN.
SO, IN SOME WAYS, THE-- THE
FOCUS ON BLACK MEN IS-- IS VERY
MUCH REFLECTIVE OF WHAT THE DATA
TELLS US.
BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT THERE'S
ALSO, I THINK TO A LARGE EXTENT,
PERHAPS WE MIGHT SAY SEXISM AND
EVEN, YOU KNOW, PATRIARCHY,
WHICH IS TO SAY THAT THE WAY
PEOPLE WRITE ABOUT AMERICAN
POLICING TENDS TO FOCUS
PRIMARILY ON THE EXPERIENCES OF
BLACK MEN.
AND EVEN AS WE RECOGNIZE THAT--
THAT MOST BLACK MEN ARE KILLED
BY THE POLICE, I THINK THE KEY
HERE IS TO TELL THE WHOLE STORY;
THAT THE KEY HERE IS TO MAKE IT
CLEAR THAT BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS
ARE ALSO VULNERABLE TO STATE-
SANCTIONED VIOLENCE.
>> Sreenivasan: WHAT ABOUT THE
IMPACT OF THE VIOLENCE ON
EVERYBODY THAT'S RELATED TO OR
CONNECTED TO THE INDIVIDUAL,
RIGHT, WHETHER THEY ARE MOTHERS
OR SISTERS OR DAUGHTERS?
THAT THERE IS TRAUMA; THAT IT'S
NOT JUST THE ONE PERSON THAT
DIED, THAT GOT HURT, SO TO
SPEAK.
>> EXACTLY.
AND WE SEE THAT CLEARLY WITH THE
RECENT CASE OF ERIC GARNER.
WITHIN DAYS OF-- OF GARNER'S
DEATH, WE SAW HIS DAUGHTER,
ERICA, RISING ON THE NATIONAL
SCENE, PUSHING THE ISSUE,
DEMANDING, YOU KNOW, CHANGES IN
AMERICAN POLICING.
BUT-- BUT THE KEY HERE IS THAT
BLACK WOMEN ARE-- ARE CERTAINLY
AFFECTED.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT TRAUMA.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT JUST THE
EMOTIONAL TURMOIL THAT THEY GO
THROUGH.
AND IT'S NOT SURPRISING THEN
THAT THEY ARE OFTEN THE ONES AT
THE FOREFRONT OF THE FIGHT TO
BRING AN END TO POLICE VIOLENCE
AND BRUTALITY.
>> Sreenivasan: AND YOU
LITERALLY HAVE WRITTEN THE BOOK
ON THIS, THAT BEING AT THE
FOREFRONT OF THE FIGHT IS
SOMETHING THAT BLACK WOMEN HAVE
BEEN DOING FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
AND MY BOOK, YOU KNOW, "SET THE
WORLD ON FIRE," FOCUSES
PRIMARILY ON WORKING-CLASS BLACK
WOMEN AND IMPOVERISHED BLACK
WOMEN.
AND I THINK THAT'S KEY, TOO,
BECAUSE MANY OF THE WOMEN WHO I
TALK ABOUT DID NOT HAVE MUCH OF
A FORMAL EDUCATION.
MANY OF THEM DID NOT HAVE MANY--
DID NOT HAVE MUCH MATERIAL
RESOURCES.
BUT WHAT THEY DID HAVE WAS
PASSION.
AND WHAT THEY DID HAVE WERE
THEIR VOICES.
AND WHAT THEY DID HAVE WAS THE
ABILITY TO JUST OPEN UP AND
EXPLAIN WHAT THE PROBLEMS WERE
IN THEIR COMMUNITY, TAKE TO THE
STREETS AND DEMAND CHANGES.
AND EVEN WHEN THEY DIDN'T HAVE
ACCESS TO THE VOTE AT A TIME
WHERE BLACK WOMEN COULD NOT VOTE
IN THE 20-- EARLY 20th CENTURY,
THESE WOMEN WERE STILL
DETERMINED TO-- TO-- TO MAKE
CHANGES, TO SHAPE NATIONAL
POLITICS AND ALSO GO-- GLOBAL
POLITICS.
>> Sreenivasan: KEISHA BLAINE,
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY
OF PITTSBURGH, THANKS SO MUCH
FOR JOINING US.
>> THANKS FOR HAVING ME.