Life and Death in Newark
By Keith Boykin, in sexuality
Tuesday, August 26 2003, 1:37AM
It seems this is not a good time to be a black lesbian in Newark, New Jersey. In the past 4 months, three black lesbians from that city have been murdered. First, 15-year-old Sakia Gunn was stabbed to death on May 11. Then the bodies of 31-year-old Shani Baraka and 30-year-old Rayshon Holmes were discovered on August 12.
The night she was murdered, Sakia and her friends walked three blocks from Newark's Penn Station to the intersection of Broad and Market Street. There the girls were approached by two men at a bus stop across the street from a police booth.
After the girls revealed that they were gay, the men attacked the girls and then stabbed Sakia. The men fled in a car, leaving Sakia to bleed to death. She died on the way to the hospital.
Almost exactly three months after Gunn was murdered, Baraka and Holmes were found dead inside the home that Baraka shared with her sister, Wanda Pasha, who was out of town at the time. They had been shot several times in the body and the head.
There are some major differences in the two incidents. Police have arrested a suspect in each case but the Baraka case remains open. Police designated the Sakia Gunn murder a hate crime but they have not made that designation with Baraka's murder, according to Gay City News. Baraka was the daughter of prominent poet Amiri Baraka and the sister of Newark deputy mayor Ras Baraka, while Gunn's family is not well connected in the political establishment.
There are other differences too. The news reports of Sakia Gunn's death immediately identified her sexual orientation. In contrast, almost all the media accounts of Amiri Baraka's murder neglected to mention her sexual orientation, or her relationship with the other victim, her lover. Out of 142 stories on Google News, only one -- in the San Francisco Bay View -- mentioned anything about the couple's lesbian relationship.
Last Friday, the New York Blade and Gay City News broke the media silence by reporting that Baraka and Holmes were lovers.
Both women are very much products of Newark and both seemed to like basketball. Baraka coached girls basketball at Malcolm X Shabazz High School and Gunn hoped to play for West Side High School's basketball team.
I've been working on a story about Sakia Gunn for several months now, so I've learned a lot about Newark recently. It's definitely not New York City. To learn more, I spent the day on Monday touring the city and taking pictures. I walked around downtown Newark to get a feel for what it's like and what it must have felt like for Sakia Gunn and Shani Baraka.
I took the subway to Christopher Street in New York and then walked along the same strip that Sakia Gunn traveled the day she was killed. Like Sakia, I paid $1.50 to take the Path train to Newark. I transferred at Journal Square and continued on to Newark's Penn Station.
Here now is the rest of the story in images from my day in Newark.
Christopher Street Path train entrance
Christopher Street Path train entrance sits next to Chi Chiz bar
Christopher Street Path train station
The final bridge leading to Newark's Penn Station
A map of the area around Penn Station
Newark Penn Station police station
Newark Penn Station police sign
A city bus pulls up at Newark Penn Station
A view of Newark Penn Station from outdoors
Another view of Newark Penn Station from outdoors
Police booth at Broad and Market Street
Broad and Market Street bus station, where Sakia was killed
Second corner Broad and Market Street bus station, where Sakia was killed
Third corner Broad and Market Street bus station, where Sakia was killed
Fourth corner Broad and Market Street bus station, where Sakia was killed
Abraham Lincoln statue looking down over Market Street
Downtown Newark's unfinished Renaissance Mall on Broad Street
Newark City Hall, where Shani Baraka's brother Ras serves as a deputy mayor
Newark City Hall up close shows boarded up window
Newark City Hall monument to "noble women of our city"
Paint chipping off the ceiling inside the dome of Newark City Hall
Editor's Note: After this article was written, the Newark Star-Ledger published a story on violence in Newark on Wednesday, August 27, 2003.
Comments conceal
Kola Boof
August 26 2003, 2:14AM
I find this story to be...so enraging...it's like watching evil float inside the humidity right before one's eyes.
I just want to scream to hear of these women's murders. I haven't felt this way since Latasha Harlins.
The quote of the day...by Marlon Riggs...are words to live by. It sums up, exactly, what my own work and life are all about.
I hated to read this. It hurts me to my heart.
Guest
August 26 2003, 10:20AM
Sure is strange in a city that has or had a gay mayor that a lesbian was killed for no reason. Then the other strange thing is to see that same bus stop with no marker or memorial posted of her murder. Just another day in the neighborhood I guess. Keith, now that you've told the story took some pictures, NOW what? Will things ever change for the better, even for a person who just wanted to love whoever she wanted to love? I give it a day or two to blow over and be like the countless stories of violence that are already at us night and day. Anybody gonna do something about this? When does it end? I think I already hear the silence.
bryan
August 26 2003, 1:26PM
Being from newark, i can say that it is an interesting place. diverse, and vibrant. my senior year of highschool i made the trip to christipher st often quite often, because in the gay/lesbian life was missing.
Walking downtown now i notice that the homosexual population is very visable, but like in most black communities homosexuals have yet to be fully integrated and excepted.
i feel the the death of Sakia was a reaction (negative and violent)to the growing number of homosexuals in newark. In my opinion many people, especially heterosexual black males are becoming increasingly resentful of the gay and lesbian population.
The worst part about her death is that the city (that is trying to undergo a renaissance) and community at large have let her die in vain. Not enough has been done to secure the gay population in the city, especially the youth.
Guest
August 26 2003, 1:48PM
Another huge question is: What about the youth and what about the gay population of color? We see the faces and numbers of gay youth crowd the village in Manhattan so much so that to even walk down the street it's a tight tight squeeze. All that young, vibrant energy, sheer 'life' wasted on hanging out in streets that give nothing but opportunity to danger and mistake. Sakia's name could be an excellent one for a youth center or programs to redirect these un-involved youths to be involved civic and all otherwise towards something truly good and no it wouldn't take much but the same effort(s) it took to report her tragic death. We can turn this around if we try.
Regan DuCasse
August 27 2003, 8:30PM
I was angered and saddend by the violent death of Sakia Gunn. I'd read about Ms. Baraka's murder, but true-there was no mention of her orientation, let alone it being a likely-if not THE likeliest motive for her and her partner's killing.
Her prominent poet FATHER'S silence is even more disturbing.
The mothers and fathers of gays and lesbians should be at the forefront in the socio/political struggle for their children's rights. It's either that, or bury them.
I have one gay family member who came out at a mature age and after years of struggle. She's beautiful and intelligent and I pray everyday that she will be safe from those who prey on gays and lesbians.
When I am out with her and my gay friends, I am aware that I could be attacked merely for being with them. That won't deter me. Ever.
If the killers of these women are in custody-all that's left is that equal justice will be applied to the crime as it would have been had these young women not been gay. That's what hate crimes laws were meant to address. That and the predatory nature of crimes such as these.
Sakia was only a CHILD!
All of these young women were minding their own business or had great potential.
My heart breaks at the loss.
vardamoi
August 27 2003, 11:28PM
This story is misleading. Baraka's daughter and her lover were killed in Piscataway, not Newark. These two municipalities are not even in the same county.
Tomika Thomason Gray
September 13 2003, 9:20PM
Yes, Rashon and Shani, were lesbians, but they were definatley ladies. Rayshon, carried herself with confidence and poise. She was geniune and unique. She and Shani should be remembered for their pride and true love for each other, their friends and family, the enrichment of youth and their communities.
Both ladies were multi-talented and would have gone very fare.
People really should choose their words carefully about the two positive women in the black community.
Khalilah Baker
April 17 2004, 11:41AM
Sakia and Valencia were good friends of mine Sakia Valencia and I all went To Mt. Vernon and Vailsburg Middle (Shani Baraka my science teacher)together and Sakia and I went to Westside High School together I loved both of these girls like they were my own sisters. Sakia and I were exceptionally close. I wasn't able to make it to her funeral because in PA now and there were no funds to get me home. I'm writing this to say good-bye to my dear friend that i loved so much. Everyone thought there was something more between us being that she was gay. But it was just love between two friends who grew to love each other like sisters. I do love you Sakia and I know your watching over me. You and Ms. Baraka. Thank-you for everything you have done for me and i can't wait to see you again. Keep a place warm for me in your heart. I love you always. May 11 will not be left unoticed.