brutality grandmother—demonstrating officer

DEATH IN CUSTODY: BLACK WOMEN AS“SUPERHUMAN” AND INCAPABLE OF FEELING PAINA 2014 study in Social Psychological and Personality Science found that white people were more likely to“implicitly and explicitly superhumanize” Black people. 51 In the context of law enforcement interactions,this “superhuman” trope can lead Black women to be treated punitively, denied help, and left to suffer inunbearable circumstances while in police custody. This cruelty that would be difficult to imagine were amiddle-class white woman involved is no doubt informed by narratives that frame Black women as somehow“superhuman” and, therefore, incapable of feeling pain in the same ways as their white counterparts. 5220Natasha McKennaFebruary 8, 2015 / Fairfax County, Virginia37-year-old Natasha McKenna died in the hospitalseveral days after she was Tased by officersin the Fairfax County Jail. McKenna, whoweighed 130 pounds, was already restrainedwith handcuffs behind her back, leg shackles,and a hood when a sheriff’s deputy shockedher four times. She suffered from mental illnessand officers used a Taser on her even thoughits use is not recommended on people in mentalhealth crisis. Officers claimed she was beinguncooperative, which led them to restrain andthen Tase her. Within minutes of being TasedMcKenna stopped breathing. When her mothervisited her in the hospital her body was coveredin bruises, both of her eyes were blackened, andone of her fingers was missing. She died a fewdays later. 53Kyam LivingstonJuly 24, 2013 / Brooklyn, New YorkNYPD officers left Kyam Livingston in a holdingcell after they arrested her for fighting withher grandmother. While in custody, Livingstoncomplained of cramps and diarrhea, but officersignored her pleas for help, and those of peopleheld in the cell with her for hours. After Livingstonspent 20 hours in the cell, police finallycalled for medical assistance when they claimedto notice that she was suffering from “apparentseizures.” She was pronounced dead upon arrivalat the hospital. A medical examiner foundthat the cause of death was an alcohol-inducedseizure. She was 37 years old and a mother oftwo. 54 In 2013, Livingston’s family filed a wrongfuldeath lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court.Sheneque ProctorNovember 1, 2014 / Bessemer, AlabamaEighteen-year-old Sheneque Proctor was arrestedfor disorderly conduct, and was taken tothe Bessemer City Jail. When Proctor—who sufferedfrom asthma—called her mother from thejail she indicated that the police had treated herroughly. She had informed the police that shewas ill, but they had ignored her requests formedical attention. She was found dead in hercell the next morning. Her cell was videotapedduring this entire period, but the police departmenthas refused to release the footage to herfamily. The family’s lawyer, Hank Sherrod, toldThe Guardian “this young woman was deniedmedical treatment while being recorded on videotaperight before police eyes. The fact thatthey won’t hand the film over makes us wonderwhat they have to hide.” 55 Proctor was themother of an infant boy.