Why Most Black Americans Think Nolan Wells’ Death and Two Recent Hangings Are Murder

For Black Americans, the summer’s most prominent news headlines seem to revisit an era defined by violence and chronicled in history books. 

Yet, in May, a 16 year-old teenager in Charlotte, North Carolina, was found hanging from a tree near a churchyard. Juliana Nzita’s family disagrees with the medical examiner’s ruling that the teen died by suicide.

Mississippi college student, Nolan Wells, went missing after he spent July 4 boating on Horn Island with a group of white friends–only to be found two days later face down in the water. His family hired famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump, and a grand jury has been convened.

On August 3, police found the body of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune hanging from a tree near an abandoned house; she was found hanging so high up in the tree rescuers used a fire department ladder to reach her body.

News outlets, social media, and many Americans continue to follow the developments, and many Black Americans are crying foul, seeing a familiar and disturbing historical pattern.

“I believe these are murders, and they are a form of messaging,” said Ray Winbush, who is a research professor and leads the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University. 

New book traces history of lynchings

Winbush works with Stacy Patton, the author of the book, “Strung Up: How White America Learned to Lynch Black Children,” which will be released in October 2026.

Publishers Weekly gave Patton’s book a starred review, which she explained on her Substack “is one of the biggest prepublication endorsements a book can get.”

In its review, Publishers Weekly described the book as, “gripping,” and quoted Patton, writing the “Black child has always been central to America’s racial order… as a target.” 

Winbush expanded on Patton’s study.

“The killing of Black people, in general, and Black children, specifically, is a ritual for White people that dates back centuries,” he added.