At some point, we have to see how the forms of police brutality that capture the lion’s share of public attention, concern, and resources — i.e. officer involved executions — are gendered forms of racist violence. They statistically impact men more than women. https://twitter.com/hoodsocialism/status/1265384240562176000

This recognition is crucial because the incidents of fatal violence that Black women are most likely to experience ARE intracultural. And if we ONLY talk about police brutality, we MAINLY speak about those who are directly impacted by it. This was the impetus behind #SayHerName

The refusal to see intracultural violence as equally deserving of attention is why 3 Black femme bodies can be slain in 1 day (5/18) w/o anyone knowing their names, no one hearing their stories. Meanwhile 92% of BW killed in IPV are killed intraculturally. https://www.ncjrs.gov/ovc_archives/ncvrw/2017/images/en_artwork/Fact_Sheets/2017NCVRW_IPV_508.pdf

But this gets to a deeper problem. The idea that giving equal attention to intracultural violence, even if discussing police brutality, could ever amount to “anti-Blackness” is to define both Blackness and racism in ways that privileges the Black male body.

I rarely hear conversations about intracultural violence where white supremacy isn’t raised, yet we want to talk about anti-Black violence without discussing intracultural violence which disproportionately impacts Black women? HOW?

Pat Hill Collins summarizes this succinctly when she writes: “African Americans typically think that [intracultural violence is] a private concern … a domestic issue among Black people. Place the “public” issue of race first ... and leave the more “private” issues“ (2004)