Say Her Name! Renee Davis was more than just a victim of Police Violence by Rae Rose

This article is a follow up to the Remembering Renee Davis: Mother, Cultural Advocate, Victim of Police Violence by Rae Rose who spent time with family and friends of Renee Davis. They wanted people to know that Renee was more than just another statistic to police violence that she was a Mother, cultural advocate, and someone with hopes and dreams, passions, struggles with depression. In Rae’s words, “Renee Davis deserves to be upheld and remembered for her beautiful spirit and loving nature.” [Editors note]

Even through the pictures, Renee’s smile shines bright. A beautiful and vibrant young woman with a bright future working to help her culture thrive. You can still see and feel Renee’s hopes and dreams, her love for her family, especially her devotion to her children in every story and picture of Renee Davis’s life.

Everyone I spoke with shared stories of Renee’s caring and giving nature. I was told about her commitment and her love for her children. The dream she carried for the future she envisioned. The people who spoke with me spoke eloquently of her passion to help her tribe by learning and practicing her traditional cultural ways.

Renee was adept at hunting, fishing, and knew many of her traditional practices. She taught not only her girls, but also the children she worked with. Her family and friends tell me about how important it was to Renee to teach her children the traditions. I was told how she would dress her girls in camouflage and take them hunting and fishing. Renee wanted to teach her children to carry on these traditional ways.

Renee didn’t always have a stable home, she was not always able to be with the sisters she loved. She survived an abusive relationship and addiction with the will to fight for a future, not just for herself, she did this for the love of her children.

*Photos of Renee Davis from the Remembering Renee Davis Facebook page

Despite all Renee suffered, she didn’t just survive, Renee thrived. She built a world of love and a place of belonging for her children. She used her life experience to help others and to give the children she worked with a safe place to just be. Renee, despite moments of reflection, sadness, and doubt kept pushing herself forward, even when it was hard. She was willing to love and forgive, Renee always put her friends, family, and especially her children first in everything she did.

Earlier that tragic day Renee was setting up her class room for the week ahead, she was making plans with friends. Renee was looking forward to a future she would never see. She had an appointment the following week and was excited to find out whether the baby she was carrying would be the boy she dreamed of naming Massi. Renee’s actions and thoughts to her tribe and children’s future do not seem like the actions of someone intent on committing suicide.

During this period of time I have been honored to sit down and talk to people who knew Renee. Everyone, even when they only knew her in passing, everyone, would tell me about the care she gave and the smile that made them feel welcome. Renee could be shy and quiet, but when she was comfortable she was fun loving and energetic. She took every class she could on early childhood development so she could be the best teacher and mother to the children around her. Eager to give the children, both her own, and the children she worked with, a safe and welcoming place to belong.

Renee survived foster care, and domestic violence that led her to drug abuse. She was mourning for her mother and trying to rebuild her life in 2016. Any one of us who has survived traumatic life events feels sad and can lose sight momentarily of the good surrounding us. We all ask for help in many ways, but the undeniable fact is when we ask for help, when we are sad, or say we want to give up, it is because we want understanding. Wanting someone to care comes in many forms, this includes claiming suicidal intention. It does not mean we want to die necessarily, more likely it means we need someone to show they care. It is often a call for help, a desperate plea.

Depression, anxiety, and sadness are in so many trauma survivors. Renee was sad the night of October 21st, 2016. She may have been upset, but no one who knew her believes she wanted to die. Renee Davis needed consideration and patience that night. Renee deserved a rational response from first responders. Massi, deserved a chance at life. Sadly, Renee and Massi were never given the time or consideration they deserved by the officers who responded to her call for help. That is why we need to carry Renee and Massi forward.

Renee Davis, deserves to be upheld and remembered for her beautiful spirit and loving nature. Massi in all his innocence deserves to be remembered for the life he was never given a chance to live. Remember and cherish Renee and Massi. Say their names so we never allow their murderers to forget the ones they took from us. Celebrate the indigenous culture and life that Renee was so proud of.

I am honored to know Renee Davis through those that shared her story and their precious memories with me. I will celebrate and remember Renee Davis for the survivor she was. I promise to carry her memory forward and I will continue to demand justice for Renee Davis and baby Massi. Please join me in celebrating Renee and Massi’s life.

By Rae Rose

*Rae Rose (Paiute, Mayan, Japanese) is a writer based in the Northwest. Follow her @Rae_Rose7 or on FaceBook at Rae Rose