Cyntoia Brown and Bresha Meadows are both victims of abuse who were teenagers when they killed men who they feared were a threat to their lives.
Recently, their stories have gained fierce support from the community: Brown has had numerous celebrities rally on her behalf, and Bresha even had a song made in her honor.
Both faced generational abuse, but sadly, we live in a world where there is a pervasive culture of physical and sexual abuse toward women and girls. Cyntoia Brown and Bresha Meadows are just two examples. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (pdf), it’s estimated that 40 percent of black women are raped, beaten or stalked by intimate partners.
Sadly, the stories of black women and girls often go untold until someone picks up a gun. See the entire video above.