Chicago Nonprofit Hosts Safe Space For Black Girls To ‘Unapologetically Exist’ At The Site Of Rekia Boyd’s Death
Article via: Chicago Nonprofit Hosts Safe Space For Black Girls To ‘Unapologetically Exist’ At The Site Of Rekia Boyd’s Death
Chicago’s “The Visibility Project: Black Girls Takeover Douglas Park,” hosted by A Long Walk Home, a nonprofit dedicated to ending violence against girls and women, was created to be a safe space where black girls could be their full selves.
If Douglas Park sounds familiar to you, it is likely because it is the very same place Rekia Boyd was shot and killed by off-duty police officer Dante Servin in March 2012.
“Douglas Park is a place where kids are supposed to play, and people are supposed to barbecue and have fun,” 15-year-old Amaya Sam told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s not supposed to be a place where the energy is just sad. I feel like what we’re doing is taking it back.”
During the free event on Thursday, July 26, black girls got to enjoy the soft croons of Jamila Woods, double dutch, pick up treats from an ice cream truck, color coloring books and more.
“You never really see a space where black girls can unapologetically, like, exist,” said 17-year-old Aliya Young, according to Teen Vogue. “So to be able to be in a space where so many of us are able to exist — and that is powerful and radical by itself — and the fact that we’re claiming this space for Rekia [Boyd] and the missing and murdered black girls, it’s nice to not just hear all those stories and be triggered all the time, but to just celebrate our reclamation.”
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