*Black social media users were instrumental in seeking justice for Shanquella Robinson, the 25-year-old North Carolina woman who died under peculiar circumstances while vacationing with friends in Cabo, Mexico.
We reported previously that Robinson was allegedly beaten to death by a “friend” in a Mexican villa on Oct. 28. The “friends” told Robinson’s mother Salamondra Robinson that her daughter’s cause of death was alcohol poisoning. But the victim’s family was told a different story by Mexican authorities and the FBI.
“When the autopsy came back, they said it didn’t have anything to do with the alcohol,” Salamondra shared with Queen City News. “[They] said that she had a broken neck and her spine in the back was cracked. She had been beaten.”
A disturbing video surfaced allegedly showing Daejhanae Jackson attacking Robinson in a bedroom while she is naked. A man who appears to be filming the assault is heard asking Shanquella, “Quella’ can you at least fight back?” Robinson attempts to get away but she is slammed to the floor and punched in the head repeatedly.
The United States State Department initially released a statement saying there is “no clear evidence of foul play.” But Black Twitter sleuths decided otherwise and made the video go viral. They also published the names and photos of Robinson’s travel companions as well as their social media pages, addresses, employers, and even birth certificates online, SandraRose.com reports.
The FBI caught wind of the evidence gathered by Black Twitter and ultimately launched an investigation into Robinson’s death. Mexican authorities also issued an arrest warrant for the aggressor, charging the individual with Femicide.
SandraRose.com writes, “Multiple news outlets in Mexico report that the charge is femicide because prosecutors believe the person attacking Robinson in the video is a male-to-female transgender.”
Femicide is “the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female.”
“Social media has been around and has been used as an amplification and social justice tool for almost a decade,” Sherri Williams, a professor of race, media, and communication at American University told NBC News.
“Black folks know that mainstream news media has a history of completely ignoring our stories,” she added. “So we’ve been using these tools to amplify our stories ourselves. And it works! We see this cycle of mainstream news media basically following the chatter on Black social media.”
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