Op-Ed from Tanika Inlaw-Chambers
As the former President of the Yonkers NAACP, I am absolutely outraged by the treatment of Kisha D. Skipper, a Black woman, community leader, and candidate for public office.
Since when does a woman lose her right to dignity, privacy, and personal safety simply because she is running for public office?
According to eyewitness accounts, Kisha was confronted and then followed into one of the most private spaces a human being can enter a bathroom! A place where any woman should have the reasonable expectation of privacy and personal security.
Let that sink in.
A Black woman is followed into a restroom, and reports being assaulted. Yet somehow, SHE is the one escorted away in handcuffs and detained by police!
Where is the outrage? Where is the accountability? And where is the equal treatment under the law?
I want to know why Kisha Skipper was the only person detained. What evidence justified that decision? Were the accounts of all parties given equal consideration? And what role, if any, did racial bias play in the response?
These are not unreasonable questions. These are questions that demand answers.
As someone who has spent decades fighting for civil rights, equality, and justice, I refuse to remain silent when a Black woman seeking public office is subjected to treatment that raises such serious concerns.
We cannot continue to tell Black women to lead, to serve, to stand up for their communities, and then remain silent when their own dignity and rights are called into question.
The Yonkers Police Department owes the public a thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation. The fact that Kisha Skipper was released without charges makes it even more important that the circumstances surrounding her detention be fully explained.
Let me be clear: I am not prejudging the outcome of the investigation. I am demanding that the same standards of fairness, dignity, and justice apply to EVERYONE.
Being a Black woman in America should never mean having to fight twice as hard to be treated fairly especially when you are the one asking for protection.
I am watching. Our community is watching. And we deserve answers.
When something ain’t right. SPEAK UP!
Tanika Inlaw-Chambers
Former President, Yonkers NAACP