Over the weekend in Rosemont, IL, a small suburb just outside of Chicago, Kenneka Jenkins' body was found in a walk in freezer at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. In reading that headline intself Sunday afternoon struck me with an assortment of feelings. I was confused because I was sure I'd read that wrong. Sad for the family when reading that she was only 19 years old. A bit angry when I initially read that she was "drunk" and her "friends left her unmonitored". Even more furious when hearing that per usual, the authorities were being less than helpful in trying to solve the situation.

The bizarre tragedy of Kenneka Jenkin's death is beyond unsettling and I refuse to stop talking about it any time soon. So often we hear of tragic tales of things that happen to Black women everyday--from street harassment to being snatched off the streets to sexual abuse to cold blooded murder. Point being, Black women need to be far more protected than we are.

What makes me angriest about Kenneka's case is being very familiar with how Chicago Police Department and surrounding jurisdictions handle these types of cases; to put it simply, they don't. And if they do, it's very poorly. The fact that the hotel wouldn't and still has not shown her mother the tapes is suspicious. There having been an autopsy still no cause of death, unsettling.  but The allegation I've previously read that police claim she put herself into a STEEL DOOR UNOCCUPIED freezer is preposterous. I could go on for several points about why the holes in this case are miles high but they scream for themselves.

To no surprise, much of the information I've seen on the case of Kenneka is via socia media. It seems that as a unit, Black people on Twitter as a unit will dig until they find what they were looking for or something close to it. 

With so many minds on the case, there have been several theories that have come up on the matter. One is that the best friend set her up in a sexual assault like situation for $200. Another is that she was being raped while another person in attendance of the party (that Twitter dubbed to be Irene, a mutual) was on Facebook Live. Another is that she was possibly killed by alleged assaulter and stashed. A newer theory that I read in a recent Twitter thread (attached here) is that the alleged owner of this hotel has been in the midst of an organ trafficking scandal prior to this situation. And I am quite familiar with the several cases of organ harvesting and body experimenting among Black people (see stories of Kendrick Johnson ,Atlanta child murders, and this article for further reading).

Kenneka Jenkins is one of the many cases of Black women being harmed without a definite trace leaving family and all those attached to scramble to figure it out. On a regular basis, I have conversations with friends and other Black women I'm not even close with on how our number one fear is being safe in our own bodies. There is a pattern in assaults and dangers placed against Black women. Moreover, there is continuous motif in how authorities choose to deal with cases that involve us. Dismissively and with blatant cover ups (ie Sandra Bland), criminalizing us, simply not helping, or finding ways to carelessly ignore us.

We must protect Black women at all costs. Love on your nearest and closest Black woman loved ones today to let them know they have you. 

For more reading on Kenneka's case, here are some of the things that we DO know. 

Kenneka Jenkins, we will not stop saying your name. I pray your truth is revealed and that justice finds its way to your mother's stoop.