Dehumanization of Black women: y’all forgot about Lauren Smith Fields and Brenda Rawls already?
- Oumou Haidara
- Feb 21, 2022
- 2 min read
To their family and loved ones, my prayers are with you. May God give you the strength to accept what has taken place.
Photo: The Real daytime
The cases of Lauren Smith Fields and Brenda Rawls are prime examples of how black women are not considered citizens of this country. We are simple inhabitants. Both women were killed on December 12th, 2021. The way the family of these victims were treated is unspeakable to say the least.
Lauren Smith Fields was a 23 year old aspiring physical therapist and YouTuber. Lauren’s mother (Shantell Fields) describes her as “funny. She lit up the whole room. She was very family orientated. Because I work so much, she would come over and say mom let me do your laundry. That’s just the type of daughter she was.” This is who Lauren Smith Fields was. One of the things Ms Shantell Fields wanted to clarify while on the Real Daytime is that her Lauren Smith Fields did not take any drugs. She followed a plant-based diet and exercised regularly. Let’s remember Lauren just the way Ms. Shantell described and not how she was found.
Brenda Rawls
Photo: News 12
Brenda Rawls was a 53 year old Connecticut native. She was found dead in a male acquaintance’s house who lived down the street from her. The only reason she was found on December 14th is because two of her sisters and her niece went looking for after tirelessly calling her without any response on December 12th and 13th.
BOTH Lauren and Brenda’s family were not notified of their family members’ death.
BOTH Lauren and Brenda’s cases are getting little to no attention on media outlets. The media outlets that are covering it have little to no information on the actual case, especially Brenda Rawls’ case.
Scripted law and order shows and shows like first 48 has taught the average American that the first 48 hours matter in any case. If the average American knows this, a experienced crime scene detective and/or veteran police officer surely knows this procedure and should be able to carry out those procedures in their sleep. With that said, the crime scenes were not sealed off nor was there any sense of urgency to solve these cases. The family members are being treated like criminals. The Bridgeport police department has FAILED these women. Where is the justice for these women? The pledge of allegiance ends with Liberty and justice for all right?
As of now the Bridgeport police department is doing damage control by putting one police officer on suspension and sending one into early retirement. That is not enough. Their lives will not be reduced to that. Accountability matters. Black womens’ lives matters. The go fund me of both Lauren Smith Fields (Justice for Lauren) and Brenda Rawls’ are listed below. Donate what you can. Anything helps.
Go fund me- Justice for Lauren
https://gofund.me/23daad37
Go fund me- Brenda Rawls
https://gofund.me/348c2fc2
Follow me on IG @oumou_haidaraa and twitter @oumou_haidaraa.
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