I have seen many people in the black community and other allied communities on Twitter regularly laud the accomplishments of civil rights revolutionaries like Assata Shakur, Malcolm X and Huey P. Newton for their assertion of their constitutional right to bear arms, citing their resistance to White supremacy in the 1960s and '70s as inspirations to modern day activists. This has shifted dramatically since the murder of Korryn Gaines on Monday, August 1, by Baltimore County police forces in Randallstown. There has been hypocritical pushback and muddied reporting on the exact circumstances of her death. The Washington Post reports that Gaines held her child as she lifted a shotgun against the police as they broke into her home, which has proven to be a false narrative on the part of the police. Gaines' home invasion has been justified by the police on account of outstanding warrants for traffic violations and other separate warrants for her boyfriend. Despite contradictions in the details of their entrance into her home, Gaines has faced increased scrutiny since her passing, and her social media accounts were deleted with cooperation from Facebook at the behest of Baltimore County PD during the standoff.
I would advise my readers not to trust the narratives given by the police, who invaded Gaines’ home after receiving the key to her apartment from her landlord. Here, Gaines was not afforded the privileges given to whites who also claim the second amendment for purposes of self-defense, and professionals have criticized the failure of Baltimore County police to engage in proper de-escalation tactics with Gaines. Her son has stated on Instagram videos posted by family that his mother did not hold him hostage and that the police intended to kill him as well, shooting him in the arm. Additionally, some are leveraging Gaines' alleged mental illness (thought to be the result of a miscarriage in an earlier police conflict) against her, even attributing her hostility to lead poisoning. Regardless of whether or not Gaines was mentally ill, Gaines was a licensed gun owner and her privacy was invaded. I find it disturbing that so many people are so willing to find excuses to implicate or incriminate Gaines in her own murder. Activists, both on the ground and on Twitter, have suggested that without the son's testimony, the police would have had a monopoly on the media narrative.
Historically, Malcolm X told us that the black woman is the “most unprotected woman in America," first to blame and the first to be demonized when White supremacy needs a scapegoat. Black women were blamed for their own rapes at the hands of slave-owners, black women were derided by suffragists for their work in organizing against race-based sexism, and black women clashed with white male leaders in leftist organizations throughout the '50s and '60s for attempting to bring the intersection of race into discussions on uplifting the working class.
Are we really to believe that the media is giving Korryn Gaines the respect she deserves and her family room to mourn her murder? Will her family get justice?
Based on the precedents of black women like Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd and Tanisha Anderson, it is unlikely that Baltimore will prosecute and convict the officers responsible for the death of a modern black revolutionary.