Sakia Gunn was a 15 year old girl from Newark, New Jersey, whose life was taken in the early hours of the 11th of May 2003.

This episode follows the case as we unpack the final moments of Sakia’s life, the confrontation at a Newark bus stop that changed everything, and the devastating moments that followed. We explore the investigation into her murder, the arrest of the lead suspect, and the legal questions surrounding hate crime legislation in the early 2000s. We also look at the wider social context of the case... what it meant to be a young Black lesbian teenager in 2003, the realities of navigating identity at a time of far less acceptance, and how Sakia’s death sparked outrage, activism, and lasting calls for change.

But what happened to Sakia Gunn didn’t end at that bus stop… and the questions her death raised are still being asked more than 20 years later.

Newark Pride Alliance, donate here: https://www.newarkpride.org/donate

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