Sign this Community Letter to show your support for Kenyairra Gadson.

#ShowKenyairraLove

This letter is in support of Kenyairra Gadson, a survivor of violence in our community. As organizations and individuals who live, work, and engage with the communities of Madison, Wisconsin and across the nation, we believe that victims of all types of gender violence have the right to defend and protect themselves. We understand domestic violence as a hideous phenomenon that goes beyond intimate partner violence and violence in the home or within a family. Domestic violence is also the abuse that is received at the hands of people in and around our communities. Domestic can be defined as relating to a household or family, and it can refer to our neighborhoods and communities. The United Nations states that “domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control…”. In this situation, Kenyairra was especially vulnerable as an openly LGBTQI Black young woman, therefore making her an easy and repeat target for the men who followed and attacked her. 

Most unfortunately, for many survivors, especially Black women, the experiences of domestic violence and other forms of gender violence are bound to systems of incarceration. Today, termed the Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline, this historical and inhuman practice in the US of criminalizing Black women for self-defense must be stopped. Kenyairra Gadson was terrorized by a man for many years to the point where she had to live her life in constant fear.  Kenyairra could not freely go out in public, because this domestic abuser would terrorize her wherever she was. He had friends as accomplices, who were just as willing as he to cause her harm. Her actions were based around survival, she did what she could for her safety. 

Not only will the court's initial determination punish Kenyairra, it has and will also further impact the lives of her family. Kenyairra was the primary breadwinner of her family and she provided vital financial support. Kenyairra Gadson is a survivor of violence. She is a vibrant young Black woman who still has a whole and joyful life ahead of her. Acting in self-defense should not result in being punished for the rest of her life. 

To the elected and appointed public servants of Dane County, Wisconsin, we know that you take pride in your work, in support of your constituents, and in the honest and positive characterization of the state of Wisconsin. Many of you spoke to the local organizations of Wisconsin about being survivor centered. We need you to show that you care about the victims and survivors in our community, and also show that you are someone who actually makes a true and just difference for them in the judicial system. It is our aim that you see, much as we do, that Kenyairra Gadson is a survivor of violence, and that she was acting in self-defense. 

It is our collective and individual expectation that you recognize her as the survivor of gender based violence she is, and acknowledge Kenyairra Gadson's right to self defense.