Stakeholder #1

The main stakeholders in the Jahi McMath case are of course Jahi's family, but more specifically her mother Nailah Winkfield.

Nailah Winkfield 

       Nailah Winkfield is a 34 year-old African American woman from Oakland, California. She has a wide-round face with dark eyes and thinly shaped eyebrows. She is often seen sporting her long, wavy dark hair in a tight bun on the top of her head. Her usual attire consists of dark clothing with large earrings. She also wears shirts that say "Pray for Jahi". 

       In regards to her martial status Nailah was never married to Milton McMath, Jahi's biological father, and he was left out of Jahi's life. After departing from McMath, Nailah married, Marvin Winkfield. She is the mother of four children. She has two other daughters and a son. Her daughters are 19 and 5 and her son is 11. Jahi was the second oldest. Prior to Jahi's situation Nailah worked at Home Depot for 12 years and Marvin was a truck driver. 

      In video interviews, Nailah speaks in a low flat voice. She has a hopeful tone with a fiery aggression that has helped her fight for her daughter's life. She holds herself up to the best of her ability. When she speaks about her daughter's condition, big tears welt in the corner of her eyes and her face scrunches up. However, when she speaks about her daughter's situation a fiery anger overcomes her body and fills her eyes. 

ClkerFreeVectorImage
"Mom, Text, Flower, Font, Mother, Celebration, Greeting"
4-07-12 via Pixabay CC0 Public Domain 

"She's [Jahi] still asleep. I don't use the word 'brain dead' for my daughter. I'm just waiting and faithful that she will have a recovery. She is blossoming in to a teenager before my eyes." 

"They told me without your brain, you can't take your own breath. Well, she's [Jahi] trying, so that means something's working."

"I am a mother. She is my daughter. I am alive. Despite what they say, she is alive. I can touch 
her, she is warm. She responds to my touch. I can love her - I can feel her love. When she was in my belly I fell in love with her. Her heartbeat for the beginning of her life was my heartbeat until God, through a miracle, sparked her heart into existence. Given time I know he will spark her brain awake."


The claims/quotes that Nailah Winkfield said were directed towards human emotion. There was little fact or evidence supporting her, but rather she stated her beliefs. She whole-heartily believes that her daughter is simply sleeping, and that given time she will wake up. Nailah just wants her daughter back. 

Nailah Winfield and Christopher Dolan, family's lawyer, have similar viewpoints/opinions regarding Jahi. They believe that she is alive. However, the hospital and doctors have deemed her brain-dead. Thus posing the question, what constitutes death?