Last week 16-year-old Jada of Houston went viral. And it wasn’t because of anything positive. Jada attended a house party that she assumed was “safe” because her friend knew the person throwing it. Unfortunately, that night changed Jada’s life forever.
Jada was raped. And her story quickly went viral as the brave high school student chose to tell her story to KHOU-TV in Texas. Jada didn’t feel the need to be silent about the rape or to disguise herself.
“There's no point in hiding,” she said. “Everybody has already seen my face and my body, but that’s not what I am and who I am.”
Over the weekend, Jada’s mother, Sukiedia, spoke to MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow in an effort to combat the bullying and rape culture that her daughter has been subjected to online.
“It’s been happening to so many ladies around the world,” Sukiedia, whose last name was not revealed, said in the interview. “And the fact that her body was shown on live television, she wanted to make a difference so that other young ladies can come forth and say what’s actually going on.”
On Monday, as a show of solidarity for Jada, Farrow enlisted the help of social media to show support for Jada by tweeting photos tagged with #IAmJada. The response has been remarkable:
https://twitter.com/RonanDaily/status/488734929010696194https://twitter.com/SEANCTURNER1/status/488741127596822528https://twitter.com/JasonBHamlin/status/488745549315600385https://twitter.com/TheReidReport/status/488738417207816192https://twitter.com/krystalball/status/488748306353635330https://twitter.com/Tyleesa_AnNoor/status/488738810834853888
As Jada shows bravery in telling her story, we applaud her and hope that others will also speak out against rape culture.
Yesha Callahan is editor of the Grapevine and a staff writer at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
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