Huffington Post is doing a series for Black History Month titled “28BlackLives”. I was asked to write an article on Renisha McBride. As an African American woman, Renisha McBride’s manner of death deeply affected me. Knocking on a stranger’s door for help in the pre-dawn hours of November 2, 2013 and being greeted with a single 12 gauge rifle shot to the face by her killer, Theodore Wafer, speaks volumes about our society today. And although the prosecutors and defense attorney refused to mention race as a factor in her case, her case had much to do about race and less to do about her being drunk, as news accounts reported.
Renisha McBride should be alive today. As an African American woman, McBride’s death deeply affected me. Nineteen-year-old McBride was shot and killed while seeking help on the porch of Theodore Wafer, a 55 year old white man, in a Detroit suburb, following her car accident in the pre-dawn morning hours of November 2, 2013. McBride’s loud knocks on Wafer’s door were answered by him with a single 12 gauge shotgun bullet to her face. He then called 911. On August 7, 2014, Wafer was convicted for the murder of Renisha McBride and later received a sentence of 17 to 32 years. To read more, click here.
And please read the other 27 articles as they are posted daily in Huffington Post’s #28BlackLives series during the month of February. Each one is written with a different point of view about a subject that speaks about our society and the many injustices that occur involving African Americans. Some stories should be told and re-told so that we will not forget. I will be re-telling the story of Renisha McBride. And as you read the articles, remember that Black Lives Matter.
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