Kenneka Jenkins: It’s Time
by: Brandon L. Brumfield
That baby was only 19 years old.
Scrolling through Facebook, I stumbled across a Facebook Live video which may have detailed the death of Kenneka Jenkins. A young woman attending a hotel party that never made it home to her mother.
The video, which has been analyzed many times, featured a young lady communicating, via Facebook Live, her account of what was going on in a room on the 9th floor of the Crowne Plaza Rosemont hotel located in Rosemont, IL.
Kenneka Jenkins
Before diving into her death and the occurrences that lead to it, let’s take a look into her life. She was a 19 year old graduate of the Community Christian Alternative Academy, a school located on the West Side of Chicago.
Her mother’s name is Teresa Martin and she believes her small framed daughter would have struggled to open the heavy doors of the walk-in freezer in which she was found dead.
Guys in the Room
All analysis of the Facebook Live video share one common detail. There were guys in that room and one of them could have assaulted and maybe even killed Kenneka.
That fact along sheds light on the bigger problem of the rape culture that is ever-present in our world.
At this point, we’ve all heard claims against men that were accused or found guilty of having inappropriate contact with female victims.
From Bill Cosby to Roman Palaski, Woody Allen, R. Kelly, and the forty-fifth president of the United States.
For decades, even centuries, we as a nation, has had a problem with men and sexual misconduct.
It’s time to move past the “boys will be boys” stage of these happenings.
From the 9th floor of a Chicago hotel room, to the oval office inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it is time to hold these men accountable for these deplorable acts that are happening against our women’s wills.
Action
As always, a police investigation will take place. The video will be analyzed and witnesses will give their accounts of what happened.
It is the job and the duty of the Rosemont Police Department to carefully review all of the evidence and give this family the answers they deserve.
And more importantly, bring justice to the culprit(s) behind this teen’s death.
In the case of 19 year old Kenneka Jenkins and all other victims of sexual assault and violence, it’s time that we stop allowing “boys to be boys” and start charging these men with the crimes they deserve.
