R.I.P Toyin Salau. As a young black women currently fighting for justice; I often stop to ask myself, “who’s going to fight for black women?” “Who is going to protect us?” I see black women fighting on the front lines EVERYDAY for our community but get shutdown or gaslighted when it comes to problems that we face navigating in this world. Toyin Salau was at every protest. Using her eloquence and fiery spirit fighting for OUR community only to be raped and killed by a black man. Why can we name at least ten black men who have been killed or face injustices by society but come up short when it comes to our women? We need to fight for our women! Black women are our protectors, our nurturers, our comrades, our life givers, our homes, our comforts, our lovers. PROTECT US. Not just black women who are conventionally attractive, not just light skin black women, not just black women who you think should be protected. ALL OF US. My spirit is broken. I feel like I lost my sister, when I look at these pictures I see myself. A young black women trying to traverse through this difficult world, a girl just spreading her wings about to take flight. Toyin Salau was robbed in every sense. We need to LISTEN to black women, NURTURE black women, INCLUDE black women, LOVE black women, FIGHT for black women, and PROTECT black women. ALL black lives matter! “If black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all systems of oppression.” -The Combahee River Collective