Say Her Name

Three different trash bags with bits and pieces of her body

One had her head

One had her torso

One had her legs

Where are her hands, where are her arms

Where are the ones, state sworn to protect her from harm

Imagine this, Valentine’s day, a present for the sheriff’s department wrapped in trash bags off the side of the road

A beautiful soul of only 14, she wasn’t white and her missing reports were never televised

An artist like you and I

Painting her way through life

To grow in her art, to show her zeal, and fuel that artistic flame

Media will bury her existence because of her complexion

A struggle for all BIPOC that seems like conviction

She represents the loss, the murdered ones of our indigenous sisters

MURDER! The 3rd leading cause of death in indigenous women and girls

She was just a teenager not even 15, she was butterflies, smiles, rebellion, and teenage angst

A mother without her daughter, now left to mourn, a now woman scorned

Who else will mourn for her, weep for her, die for her

Now close your eyes

Place her in your thoughts, brown skin, big cheeks when she smiles, dark hair and brown eyes, a girl who looks like me

Imagine feeling lost and wanting your family

The pure horror of a person beating you to death, no parent to hold your hand and witness your last breath

The darkness of the night but no stars to lead the way

Just three bags discarded like last night’s scraps

Her soul is wondering who will look for me, who will save me, the police perhaps?

Will her vengeance be placed, will her murderer be chased

Raising murals commemorating her life, her jovial smile on her face

Honor for a now mourning mother, for a child who did not want to be in the system

A system that neglects a child of color. Turns a blind eye to the real needs of the minority

Let her be the doorway to the rest of the MMIW-missing, murdered indigenous woman

Fight for her, fight for her indigenous sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties, and grandmas

She lives through her name, young Emily Pike.

Do what is good, do what is right

Let her soul rest in peace knowing you know her name

Say it loud, Say it without shame, Say her name

Yell it to the sky!

So loud the creator can hear your cry!

Emily Pike!