"There is difference and there is power. And who holds the power decides the meaning of the difference." --June Jordan

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Romona Moore and Justice for Black Women

Reprinted at the blog Black and Missing but Not Forgotten is the Village Voice story on Romona Moore, the 21-year old African American college student who was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and eventually beaten to death by two men after four days of captivity in a house in her own Brooklyn neighborhood.

This tragedy happened in 2003, and her murderers have since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole, but this story is back in the news because Romona's mother is pursuing a civil-rights lawsuit against the NYPD for their frequent "practice of not making a prompt investigation of missing-persons claims of African-Americans, while making a prompt investigation for white individuals." Go read the whole story for the context, but I have to issue a big trigger warning due to the description of the abuse Romona underwent.

And for a constant, eye-opening stream of information about the disproportionate number of black women and girls who go missing or are killed in the U.S., add the Black and Missing but Not Forgotten blog to your reading list.

See also: What About Our Daughters