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No Human Involved

The Serial Murder of Black Women and Girls and the Deadly Cost of Police Indifference

Author Cheryl L. Neely

Hardcover

$28.95 US

Beacon Press

6.3"W x 9.3"H x 0.93"D | 16 oz | 12 per carton

On sale Jan 21, 2025 | 264 Pages | 9780807004562

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An urgent examination of the invisibility of Black women and girls as victims of targeted killings, and the lack of police intervention and media coverage

When Black women and girls are targeted and murdered their cases are often categorized by police officers as “N.H.I.” – “No Humans Involved.” Dehumanized and invisible to the public eye, they are rarely seen as victims. In the United States, Black women are killed at a higher rate than any other group of women, but their victimhood is not covered by the media and their cases do not receive an adequate level of urgency.

Utilizing intensive historical research of cases in cities such as Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angles, Cheryl Neely calls attention to serial cases of Black female murder victims and a lack of police action. Neely approaches each case and story with detailed care. Instead of focusing solely on the killings and the murderers, she highlights the lives of the women and girls and their communities that never stopped fighting for justice. With media neglect and police indifference, Neely argues that because law enforcement is less likely to conduct serious investigations into the disappearances and homicides of Black women, they are particularly vulnerable to become victims.

Diving deep into the unseen and unheard, Neely uses personal interviews, court records, media reports, and analytical data to understand how and why Black women are disproportionately more likely to die from homicide in comparison to their white counterpoints. Sounding an urgent alarm, No Human Involved contends that it is time for Black women’s lives to matter not only to their families and communities, but especially to those commissioned to protect them.

“A vital, infuriating addition to the literature on racial prejudice in US law enforcement.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Activists involved in equitable policing, judicial reform, and victims’ rights will find value in Neely’s account.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Neely’s care for her subjects is obvious, as she tries to glean details about these women—beyond how they died—from heartbreakingly sparse records. Her cleareyed, compassionate, and deeply researched book challenges its readers to fight for change.”
—Booklist

“Grapples in deeply personal and poignant detail not just with the cold reality that Black lives have stunningly little value to the police, to the media, and to city hall in America’s major cities, but with the even more chilling fact that the lives of Black women have mattered not at all. Via the stories of Black women who have been lost to the record, and for whom the justice system rarely rallied, this powerful book calls upon us all to remember the stolen lives of Black women and to demand that they now be seen, heard, and protected.”
—Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy

“Cheryl Neely argues convincingly that law enforcement’s systematic disregard for Black girls and women leaves them vulnerable to serial killers. She writes with great care for victims and their families and issues a call to action for increased awareness, education, and efforts to combat all forms of gender violence. This essential and heartrending book is a must-read for anyone concerned about justice in America.”
—Kidada E. Williams, author of I Saw Death Coming

“This timely book contributes to our understanding of contemporary Black women’s and girls’ alarming homicide rates, Black criminalization, and police indifference, laying bare the horrific consequences of societal neglect. With painstaking care, Cheryl Neely presents a compelling documentation of women’s murders yet goes beyond narratives of death, piecing together victims’ lesser-known stories of family and community.”
—LaShawn Harris, author of Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners: Black Women in New York City’s Underground Economy

“Cheryl Neely’s book is an eardrum-shattering clarion call for America to reckon with the humanity of missing Black women and girls. The infuriating negligence of the authorities is laid bare and incontrovertible, yet between horror and grief are heartfelt memories of the lives of women and girls taken too soon.”
—Kali Gross, author of Vengeance Feminism: The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless Times and co-author of A Black Women’s History of the United States

Cheryl L. Neely is a sociology professor at Oakland Community College in Royal Oak, Michigan where she teaches courses in Sociology and Criminology. She is the author of You're Dead―So What?: Media, Police, and the Invisibility of Black Women as Victims of Homicide, which won the Gold Medal Midwest Book Award in 2016.

Cheryl L. Neely View titles by Cheryl L. Neely

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1
But First, Michelle: The Cold Case Murder of My Friend by a Confessed Serial Killer

CHAPTER 2
Panic in Roxbury: Serial Deaths in 1970s Boston

CHAPTER 3
Taco Bell Terror: Serial Murders of Black Women in the Queen City

CHAPTER 4
“No Humans Involved”: Police Apathy and the Tale of the Grim Sleeper

CHAPTER 5
Cleveland Is Dangerous for Black Women: Serial Murders in a House of Horrors

CHAPTER 6
“Say Their Names—All Fifty-One of Them”: Unsolved Murders in Chicago

CONCLUSION
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX