Road leading to Sandra Bland's former university to be renamed 'Sandra Bland Parkway'
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Version 0 of 1. Prairie View City Council has voted to name a street after Sandra Bland, the black woman who suddenly died in Waller County Jail following her arrest last month. Ms Bland's apparent suicide on 13 July drew national outrage and sparked an investigation into Texas jails in an ongoing effort to prevent police custody deaths. Students, alumni, family members and sorority sisters of Ms Bland marched to City Hall on Tuesday supporting the name change. The Prairie View City Council voted to rename the street leading to her alma mater "Sandra Bland Parkway," ABC13News reported. Ms Bland was ready to begin her career at Prairie View A&M University just weeks before her death. "If every time they pull over a student, they have to be reminded of what took place here, then that will help the relationship to be more respectful between the officers and the students," protester Hannah Bonner told the station. Prairie View A&M University graduate Michael Moore told Houston Public Media that the moment is an important part of the city's history. “There’s a slave owner that has a street named after him. Ronald Reagan, there’s a street named after him, so why not Sandra Bland? She graduated from Prairie View, wanted to come back and give back, so I think that she deserves it,” he said. The Bland family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Waller County Jail and officials involved in her arrest. The lawsuit names Brian Encinia, the officer who arrested Ms Bland, the entire Waller County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety. |