RIP Chris Kaba

Courtesy of Chris Kaba’s family

The Black Curriculum is saddened to hear about the death of 24-year old Chris Kaba. Chris was fatally shot by the Metropolitan Police on Monday evening after being wrongly presumed to be in possession of a firearm. He is the second Black man this year to have been killed by the police, following the death of Oladedji Omishore just a few months ago in June.

Chris was a soon-to-be father and five months away from marrying his fiancee. He was also a member of the MOBO-nominated group, 67. It is a tragic loss for his family, his child who will never get to meet him, and the community who has lost one of its most promising stars. 

Too many families and communities have lost loved ones due to contact with the police who are supposed to serve and protect everyone. Police brutality is not endemic to the US alone. Though UK police are usually unarmed, they have caused the deaths of many Black people over the years. 204 BAME people in the UK have been disproportionately killed at the hands of the police in the UK in the last 32 years. From Joy Gardner in 1993, Mark Duggan in 2011, to Chris Kaba this week, Black people make up 8% of deaths recorded in police custody, despite only being 3% of the UK population. 

Although there is a lot happening in the news and in the world right now, we must continue to demand answers from the Metropolitan Police and the justice system. We must continue to say Chris Kaba’s name and not let him become another statistic.