20. India Kager: A Mother's Story of Loss & Erasure

Intersectionality Matters!

On September 5, 2015, India Kager and Angelo Perry drove to Virginia Beach to introduce their 4-month-old baby Roman, to Angelo’s family. Unbeknownst to them, Virginia Beach police were tailing their car and while India, Angelo, and Roman were parked at 7/11, a SWAT team threw a flash bang grenade and opened fire on their car. 4 officers fired over 51 rifle rounds into India’s car, while baby Roman sat in the back seat, killing Angelo and India within seconds. Virginia Beach police Chief Jim Cervera would later say India’s killing was an accident. In this episode of Intersectionality Matters!host Kimberlé Crenshaw speaks with India Kager’s mother, Gina Best, about her memories of India, a “beautiful, soft-spoken poet.” She describes the anguish of never hearing from the police except to receive a bill for the destruction of the car her daughter was murdered in. While she waited for a call that would never come, officers pulled her daughter’s body out of the car and left it on the cold ground overnight. As India’s family desperately sought out information on his whereabouts, police handed India’s baby, Roman, over to foster parents. Learn More About & Support the #SayHerName Movement: aapf.org/supportshn Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw Produced by Julia Sharpe-Levine Edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine and Rebecca Scheckman Additional support provided by the African American Policy Forum: Shermena M. Nelson, Emmett O’Malley, Michael Kramer, Awoye Timpo, Gregory Bernstein, Alanna Kane, Vineeta Singh Music by Blue Dot Sessions Graphics by Julia Sharpe-Levine Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast