It’s been more than five years since the death of Chicago native Sandra Bland.
Bland was just 28-years-old Chicago-area woman, was found hanging in her Walker County, Texas, jail cell on July 13, 2015. Bland was stopped and arrested by police during a traffic stop.
Three days later, she was dead.
Today would have been her 34th birthday.
Born on February 7, 1987, in Naperville, Illinois, Bland was raised by a single mother and grew up in the church. After graduating from Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, she earned a marching band scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, a UBCU in Prairie View, Texas, where she became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.
Bland earned her degree in agriculture at Prairie View in 2009 before moving back home to Illinois. in 2015, she was hired as a community outreach coordinator at her alma mater. That same year, prior to her death, in 2015, Bland began posting thought-provoking videos to her social media, where she touched on various subjects, including speaking out against police brutality.
More than anything, Bland wanted us all to love ourselves and each other.
“You’ve got to conquer hate with love. And, any time you’re presented with a situation where somebody is being racist or giving false information, really, that’s your time to educate,” Sandra bland
Today, TheHub.News, Culture Playground and ShinemyCrown.com pay tribute to Sandra Bland, bringing you some of her most inspirational messages from her social media before she was taken from us.
Watch our video tribute below:
Happy birthday, Sandra. #SayHerName
