June 17, 2023
Remembering Black Lives Matter Activist Oluwatoyin Salau 3 Years Later
Activist Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau was found murdered on June 13, 2020. She had been missing for nine days. Three years later, she remains at the forefront of many minds. Her activism, life and untimely death serve as a reminder of the specific tragedies that Black women often face.
According to Tallahassee ABC affiliate WTXL, Salau was reported missing on June 6. On that same day, she posted a series of tweets where she revealed that she had recently been sexually assaulted. In her thread of tweets, the teenager shared that she had been staying at a church due to “unjust living conditions” when she was offered a ride from a man, BLACK ENTERPRISE reported. Salau tweeted that, when she arrived at the man’s home, she showered and changed into clothes that he provided. Soon after, however, the man began to touch Salau inappropriately and without her consent. She wrote, “He started touching my back and rubbing my body using my body until he climaxed and then went to sleep.”
This is not the first time that she had been assaulted, according to her thread. Just three months prior to her disappearance, in March, Salau had been violated by a 32-year-old man who was an instructor at Florida A&M University and tried to force himself on Salau. After the encounter, she shared that he repeatedly harassed her for days. Salau, her friends Danaya Hemphill and Ashley Laurent, and another friend attempted to take legal action against her first assailant, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
“That Thursday, she went with me to the church, she talked to a lawyer, she spent a while there,” Laurent told the news organization. “She kept crying.”
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Salau, Laurent and Hemphill met with the police near FAMU’s campus to pick up her belongings. In a three-minute video Hemphill recorded and shared with the news organization, a disoriented Salau is heard repeatedly saying, “I just hope he will not do this to anybody else,” as she sobs. Despite the horrific ordeal, Salau was unable to receive justice. In a sentence that has been uttered to so many victims of sexual assault, the group of girls were told that there would need to be more evidence before an investigation could occur.
“I personally feel like they could have investigated and gotten DNA,” Laurent told the the platform. “That’s where they failed her. She could still be alive.”
Days before her death, various Twitter users reached out to Salau, offering their assistance but they received no response. Her twitter account went radio silent.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, her last known location was captured on footage and showed her entering Big Easy Snowballs at Lake Ella around 7:00 PM on June 10. Her friends Hemphill and Laurent were desperate to determine Salau’s whereabouts. They spoke to the Tallahassee Democrat about the last time they saw her alive on June 6.The three girls attended a vigil for police shooting victim Tony McDade. Salau was not found until nine days later murdered alongside another woman, 75-year-old Victoria Sims, who was a retired state worker and frequent volunteer.
“We were all together one minute,” Hemphill said, “and the next minute, our friend was gone.”
Soon after the two women’s bodies were discovered, 49-year-old Aaron Glee, whose history of violence against women spans across decades, was arrested for the murders, according to the Tallahasse Democrat.
Salau’s death resonated deeply with people across platforms, with many social media users tweeting the hashtag #RIPOLUWATOYIN in honor of her memory. Hemphill posted a tribute to the late activist.
Oluwatoyin,
You spent your life being abused by family, sexually assaulted, and you still managed to FIGHT for black lives. You protected black lives. Only for you to be raped and killed.
We need to protect our black women. They are dying while fighting a war for us. pic.twitter.com/aKdbxVAcSV— JusticeForToyin (@dr_hemphill) June 15, 2020
Salau is remembered for dedication to Black lives. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that Salau frequented protests in honor of victims such as George Floyd and she spoke out against violence at a gathering outside of police headquarters in a now widely-circulated video shared by 247 Live Culture.
The 19-year-old’s death highlights the gendered violence and housing inequalities that disproportionately impact Black women. Salau spent her time advocating for justice on behalf of Black people, including Black men. However, her life was callously cut short by the very person she sought to protect. And, even prior to her passing, she had been constantly taken advantage of by men.
After Salau’s death, Hemphill went to social media to clarify Salau’s home situation.
Toyin was NOT homeless. She just wasn’t safe at home! THERE IS A DIFFERENCE! & regardless, she stayed at MY HOME before her disappearance.
— JusticeForToyin (@dr_hemphill) June 15, 2020
Salau’s inability to find permanent safe housing is another element that makes her death far too hard hitting. According to a 2020 report from the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, marginalized groups are often left to fend for themselves in the face of housing instability. It was revealed that housing insecurity and its damaging consequences are far more likely to negatively impact Black women due to avoidable racial and gender disparities. Reduced to relying on the kindness of friends and to trusting strangers, Salau’s conditions were as devastating as they were preventable.
Renowned author and poet Maya Angelou once said, “The Black woman is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.”
Salau was a victim of such circumstances. Her commitment to fighting against white supremacy in her lifetime was one of her most defining traits. And her desire to protect her Black community endeared her to countless others. And yet, Salau was not protected by the very community she sought to preserve. Instead, she fell victim to the harsh realities so many women like her – displaced and abused – often do. Despite the conditions surrounding her murder, Salau remains just as formidable in death as she was in life. We remember her for her courage and her spirit and we will continue to so that her life is not forgotten.
