Two Black Girls Murdered (But Do You Care)

[orangeblossom]

I'd heard about this sorry, but kept forgetting to post about it.  Have you heard about it?

So tragic and heartbreaking on so many levels. 

www.ebony.com/news-views/black-teen-girls-killed-but-do-you-care-403?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000047#axzz3Dn95F5IP


Two teen girls were found dead in Duval County, Florida and now, we wait for answers and the predictable lack of outrage from people who might typically deem a double murder to be cause for such.

According to local ABC affiliate WFST, the bodies of Angelia Mangum, 19, and Tjhisha Ball, 18 were spotted on the side of a road around 1 a.m. yesterday. The bodies were reportedly bound with zip ties, naked and on top of one another.

The few reports about the story have cited the women’s criminal records (neither of which are worth mentioning here). Ball’s sister, Crystal Moore told ABC Action News that the two women were close friends and had been working in the Jacksonville area as exotic dancers.
Heartbreakingly, Ball’s mother Jerlean Moore told ABC "I feel like sometimes that I failed. What could I have done? What could I have taught her better?”

It isn’t unreasonable to expect for a grieving family to wish that their dead loved one hadn’t worked in the sex industry, one where women are often subject to increased abuse and harassment at the hands of clients, employers and law enforcement alike. Thus, there should be no judgment from any of us about Ball’s lament about her daughter’s work. But what I fear will happen here is a general sentiment among media makers and the public that because these women were sex workers, that their deaths are not cause for outrage and fear.

Someone(s) apparently murdered two women and left their bodies on the side of the road for the world to see. We shouldn’t need for them to have been “good girls”—or White girls, or, perhaps good White girls—for this to be cause for national concern. There is a killer, or killers, on the loose.

There is no shame in what those women allegedly did for a living. The shame is the way our society treats the ‘bad girls,’ and that we do not respect their humanity even in death. We could discuss the lack of education and career opportunities that leads young women to the pole, but we’d be dismissing the fact that many exotic dancers choose that path because that is what they want to do. Who are we to judge? Especially considering how many of us are cogs in corporate wheels that hurt people in ways that a g-string never will.

I hope that my media colleagues, fellow feminists, members of local law enforcement and any human being with a shred of decency will treat the story of Angelia Mangum and Tjhisha Ball’s killing with the compassion and urgency that they deserve. Sadly, history has given me little reason to expect that to be the case.

Anyone with information about this case should contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or email [e-mail]. Anonymous tips can also be provided to Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.

UPDATE: Both families are said to be in need of help with paying burial expenses for the girls. A fund has been set up to assist them.


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[meshaliuknits]

I had not heard.

[penguingrrl]

Oh how horrifying.

[iammalcolmx]

Terrifying and sad I haven't heard about this. Also I would like to say I can be saddened people choose sex work without judging the workers.

[cinnamoncox]

Oh, that's so sad. How young. Their poor families, I can't begin to imagine the pain and suffering, then to top it all off with feeling like no one cares

[Deleted]

That is horrible. Who the hell did all that and you know those weren't the first girls, nor will they be the last ones.

In terms of people not caring because of their race, it really is because they were strippers. No one cares about white strippers who disappear or are murdered either which is why serial killers choose them as their victims. Part of it is the sex work and part of it is the fact that they tend to move around a bit and when they go missing, people assume they've moved on. Of course with technology and cell phones and facebook being what it is, it's harder to say they just left.

I think people also assume that sex workers are involved with illegal activity, usually drugs. Media has given us this picture of them as cutting and packaging cocaine, dating drug dealers, swallowing heroine balloons, etc so when people see their deaths, they assume it's the beginning of a tale that should be investigated by Benson and Stabler. I'm really not sure why that translates into no one caring though because dude, if you kill people like that, you need to be found, ffs.

[orangeblossom]

Sept 27, 2014 8:31:06 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

That is horrible. Who the hell did all that and you know those weren't the first girls, nor will they be the last ones.

In terms of people not caring because of their race, it really is because they were strippers. No one cares about white strippers who disappear or are murdered either which is why serial killers choose them as their victims. Part of it is the sex work and part of it is the fact that they tend to move around a bit and when they go missing, people assume they've moved on. Of course with technology and cell phones and facebook being what it is, it's harder to say they just left.

I think people also assume that sex workers are involved with illegal activity, usually drugs. Media has given us this picture of them as cutting and packaging cocaine, dating drug dealers, swallowing heroine balloons, etc so when people see their deaths, they assume it's the beginning of a tale that should be investigated by Benson and Stabler. I'm really not sure why that translates into no one caring though because dude, if you kill people like that, you need to be found, ffs.

True. 

I'd have to look for the first article I read, but I read they'd met in a group home or something similar many years ago, but you know no one cares about what led them to the group home and what led them to being strippers. 

These were two kids for goodness sakes. Like you said, it's not likely the first time for the murderer, nor will it be the last. 

[gazpacho]

It's a sad story all around. I saw the initial story and noticed the lack of commentary. It is a sad commentary on who we (as a society) deem as being worthy--whether that is explicitly or implicitly communicated. Likely, the murderer(s) will continue to kill--well, until they kill someone that society deems "worthy".

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2014 9:03:44 GMT -5 gazpacho said:

It's a sad story all around. I saw the initial story and noticed the lack of commentary. It is a sad commentary on who we (as a society) deem as being worthy--whether that is explicitly or implicitly communicated. Likely, the murderer(s) will continue to kill--well, until they kill someone that society deems "worthy".

And that's exactly what happens. Look at the Green River Killer and other serial killers. Most of them get away with it for years and years because no one looks too hard for the types of women they kill. But then they mistake a recent runaway, a 'nice girl' from a 'good family' and all of a sudden, we need to find this guy.

[gazpacho]

Sept 27, 2014 11:45:24 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Sept 27, 2014 9:03:44 GMT -5 gazpacho said:

It's a sad story all around. I saw the initial story and noticed the lack of commentary. It is a sad commentary on who we (as a society) deem as being worthy--whether that is explicitly or implicitly communicated. Likely, the murderer(s) will continue to kill--well, until they kill someone that society deems "worthy".

And that's exactly what happens. Look at the Green River Killer and other serial killers. Most of them get away with it for years and years because no one looks too hard for the types of women they kill. But then they mistake a recent runaway, a 'nice girl' from a 'good family' and all of a sudden, we need to find this guy.

The Green River Killer was exactly what popped into my head when reading.

[orangeblossom]

So sad, the family needs help paying for burial expenses. Hopefully, they'll be able to get it.

www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/09/families_of_slain_fla_teens_need_help_paying_for_funeral.html

[elleblue]

Sept 27, 2014 12:27:34 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

So sad, the family needs help paying for burial expenses. Hopefully, eyre able to get it.

www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/09/families_of_slain_fla_teens_need_help_paying_for_funeral.html

[stever]

Those poor girls and their families. And the mom saying that she felt like she had failed

[downtoearth]

Sept 27, 2014 13:02:06 GMT -5 stever said:

Those poor girls and their families. And the mom saying that she felt like she had failed

Ditto - so very sad. I hadn't heard about it - b/c they were black AND sex-workers is probably why it didn't make national news, huh?

[redwino]

Very sad. I hadn't heard anything about this at all. It breaks my heart. Those poor girls.

[compassrose]

How heartbreaking. Thank you for linking to the fund to help the families, orangeblossom

[teflepi]

Sept 26, 2014 15:58:41 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Terrifying and sad I haven't heard about this. Also I would like to say I can be saddened people choose sex work without judging the workers.

That bothered me in her article, too.  I don't judge them for choosing sex work, but it should not be really seen as a choice.  I am sad they were murdered, horrified.  Awful.