In a poignant and powerful speech, Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland, did not mince her words when speaking to members of Congress on Thursday. Her daughter died in a Texas jail cell last summer at the young age of 28. It was called a “suicide.” Reed-Veal hears none of it.
Collier Meyerson with Fusion reports:
Reed-Veal was speaking at the Library of Congress, part of the first symposium of the newly formed Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls. “Am I angry? Absolutely,” said the mother, who said she does not believe her daughter committed suicide. Her testimony instigated tears and loud sighs in an audience filled with black women. The officer who arrested Bland, Brian Encinia, was fired.
Below is one excerpt from the short 4 ½ minute speech (a must read/hear). It’s followed by a Josh Begley Vimeo video clip. Reed-Veal talks about other young women who have died similar deaths, as well as her daughter. Emotions are high as she speaks.
“Let’s get something straight. I as a mother do not believe she committed suicide. I will say that until it’s proven. But if you want me to believe that my daughter—that I sent down there sitting up, driving her own vehicle—would be sent home in a capsule in the bottom of a plane with luggage on top of her, that I’m going to shut up? I will not. I will not. I will continue to speak for every mother paralyzed because of the loss of their child. Six, and Google them. I’m looking at your phones. Take two minutes and Google the other six that died in jail. We’re not talking about that year, we’re talking about the month of July. 18-50 [years old]. Kindra Chapman allegedly stole a cell phone; 20 hours later she hung herself. Alexis McGovern downstairs in the infirmary dead, her family upstairs paying the bond. Nobody has spoken these names. And as I go around the country speaking, the fact that no pen is raised in a room, where six other women, aside from my daughter, have died. And nobody knows their names. That’s a problem...”
At one point, the grieving mother says:
“I don’t come to sit and be a part of a caucus where we talk and do nothing. You, you, you, you don’t know my pain. God forbid you go up to another grieving mother and say you know how she feels, that is a lie. Unless you have lost a child. Am I angry? Absolutely.”
Read/watch the full speech here.
To the majority of human beings, the thought of losing a child is devastating. To actually lose a child? Most parents find it too physically and emotionally painful to even try. Words can’t help Geneva Reed-Veal or any other grieving parents who’ve lost children like this. What is most needed is awareness, for without it—little will change. Should you feel compelled, please share.