micdotcom
5 black women have died in jail this month:

Sandra Bland’s alleged suicide by hanging in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell on July 13 sparked suspicion of foul play from her family members and advocates Bland was 28 years old.

Kindra Chapman died under similar circumstances. The 18-year-old’s death by asphyxiation in a Homewood, Alabama, jail cell was ruled a suicide Monday by a Jefferson County coroner — a conclusion with which Chapman’s family agrees, despite some outside suspicion.

Joyce Curnell, 50, was found dead in a North Charleston, South Carolina, jail cell on July 22. She was arrested for an outstanding bench warrant for shoplifting, and was seen at a local hospital the day before her death.

Ralkina Jones died Sunday by yet undetermined means at a Cleveland Heights, Ohio, jail. Police said she’d looked “lethargic” in her cell beforehand and was being shuttled back and forth from a local hospital the night she died. Jones was 37.

Raynetta Turner, a 43-year-old mother of eight, was found dead in a jail cell Monday in Mount Vernon, New York. Turner, who had been arrested for shoplifting at a food and restaurant supplier, also had multiple medical problems and was taken to a local hospital shortly after her arrest.

To fully understand why this keeps happening, we have to look at the way black women are treated by the justice system and the issues of black mental health in America.