Russia was strategic in capturing Brittney Griner days before its ‘official ‘ invasion of the Ukraine, leaving her outside the protection of the Geneva convention. Then, the charge of international drug trafficking, placed her outside the compassionate purview of the ‘morally’ concerned international community. These strategic actions has left Griner, most vulnerable with her nation and international bodies having confidently leaned into the position of impotence and confoundedness.

For you, those of you who are reading this, this is yet another day in Brittney Griner’s journey as a captive of Russia. I cannot imagine the weight Griner and her community are under. This day, 40 days after Griner’s 32nd birthday, and 282 days as a prisoner of the Russia/Ukraine war, is not just any other day; it is Yet another day in an ongoing nightmare.

I read a posted comment some weeks ago about the, now aborted, trade that would have tentatively brought BG home to her loved ones before the end of the year. The comment, directed at BG, read something to the effect that she “pleaded guilty to the crime and broken a foreign land’s law, you should “rot in jail” for the 9 years of your sentence for dishonoring your country (the United States) and breaking foreign law. The comment took me aback. I am a researcher, privy to the many articles written on so call confessions within the US judicial systems that took place under duress and/or all out physical violations. I read as a matter of course, so I have also read detailed narratives of lawyers for the defense promising detained individuals lesser sentences, an opportunity to go home to their loved ones, if only they agree to a guilty plea, regardless of the truth of their innocence. I may also watch too many shows in which notions of guilt and innocence are weaponized against the best interest of vulnerable populations.

As the first prisoner of the Russian/Ukraine war, captured only days before the first visible performance of invasion, BG’s captivity set the stage for inevitable unfolding for Black and Brown bodied people who by design or circumstance have gotten caught up in this international catastrophe. Prior to the official attack on the Ukraine, African/African Diaspora students in the Ukraine were advised not to be concerned, these sister nations (Russia and the Ukraine) had been spewing aggressive rhetoric at each other for years, nothing more would come of it. After Russia ‘officially’ launched its invasion of the Ukraine, African/African Diaspora and South Asian students, residents, and citizens were routinely denied the right to flee the war by ordinary Ukrainians and Ukrainian officials. African/African Diaspora and South Asian bodies (dead or alive) quickly became collectable war tokens, and providences worked hard by physical assault and violations to keep African/African Diaspora and South Asian students along with black and brown bodied Ukrainian citizens within Ukraine’s borders, while non-African/African Diaspora and non-South Asians were assisted in fleeing the war in their country to become internationally catered to and celebrated war refugees.

By now, Brittney Griner must have in her mind replayed all her moments before getting on the plane to Russia – something she had done for eight years in almost ritualistic fashion. As a highly celebrated basketball player, a career that requires an exceptional marriage of outstanding skills and keen intuition, I wonder if there was a moment in which BG sensed that something was not right about this flight to Russia. Did she know that this time would be different? How was she to know that she was guilty before packing her bags, before boarding the plane? Plans for her capture were already in place. And while white Americans can ( in acts as independent war agents) purposefully take up arms against Russia and be set free, sent back home to the US when caught (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-war-americans-alex-drueke-andy-huynh-captured-by-russia-return-home-alabama/), Griner’s deed of accidental – though she confessed, I am still not convinced she actually did this crime – transport of 0.6 ounces of cannabis oil (from what I understand a value of $45US) on to Russian territory has resulted in a sentence of 9 years in one of Russia’s worst penal colonies. So in case you missed that, if caught in the willful taking up of arms against an international territory (nation-state) on behalf of another international territory (nation-state), you will still get home for the holidays, if you are white. Please DON’T try this as a Black or Brown person!

I acknowledge that there are people who still believe that Brittney Griner’s situation in Russia is about cannabis and Russia’s stance on the use of marijuana. However, what is clear to me is that, of the many things that this moment is about, it is also decidedly about the use and abuse of the African/African Diaspora body in the culling of identity, belonging, and power in the Russia/Ukraine war. Brittney Griner is the most famed living token of Russia/Ukraine war, of which there are others suffering in the Ukraine and Russia, awaiting international entities and her county to take powerful action to bring her home safely (whatever safely may mean at this point in time).