Say Her Name: Resistance, Race Riots, and a Bioarchaeology of Black Life in New York City

#SayHerName and #BlackLivesMatter carry on the deep tradition of organized Black resistance to white supremacy. Focusing riots and rebellions in New York City, this article considers acts of resistance by Black people centering life and community juxtaposed against acts of anti-Black violence that deny Black humanity. The objectified skeletal remains of 79 Black women who were dissected in Progressive Era New York City provide a way to reconstruct Black life when framed within discussions of intergenerational trauma and the “wake,” as proposed by Christina Sharpe (2016). Many of these women lived through and witnessed race riots in the city, including the 1863 Draft Riots and the 1900 Tenderloin Race Riot. I reflect upon how, as a Black woman and bioarchaeologist, I am living through and witnessing events similar to those that transpired over a century ago, and I consider what else these women might tell us about this current moment.