147 days.
It’s been 147 days—and counting—since Breonna Taylor was brutally gunned down in her sleep. 147 days without justice.
The WNBA has dedicated their season to honoring her memory and last week, for the first time ever, Oprah Magazine featured someone other than Oprah on its cover. That person was Breonna Taylor.
“Breonna Taylor. She was just like you,” Oprah said in a statement announcing the cover. “And like everyone who dies unexpectedly, she had plans.”
That she did.
But one thing I’m sure she never imagined was the outpouring of rage from millions of people throughout the world at her death at the hands of Louisville police.
Breonna also likely never imagined that Oprah Magazine and Until Freedom would erect 26 billboards throughout Louisville, one for every year of her life, in order to #SayHerName and continue to fight injustice, according to WLKY and Oprah Magazine.
“Kentucky will not forget her name,” Until Freedom tweeted on Thursday. “We will get justice for Breonna.”
Until Freedom, co-founded by organizers Tamika Mallory, Mysonne Linen, Angelo Pinto and Linda Sarsour, is an intersectional social justice organization comprised of “advocates, new & budding activists, seasoned community organizers, students, movement lawyers, entertainers and artists, policy experts, formerly & currently incarcerated individuals, and survivors of gun violence,” according to its website. They are “rooted in the leadership of diverse people of color to address systemic and racial injustice.”
They are 100 percent about that action and brought exactly that to the doorstep of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. In July, they organized a massive protest on Cameron’s front lawn that resulted in the arrest of over 80 peaceful protesters.
The billboards began to go up on Thursday and will all be up by Monday.
Unfortunately, they might also have some unwelcome company, as the Louisville Metro Police Foundation has revealed its own plans to erect billboards throughout the city.
“Several people have reached out wanting to show our officers how much we appreciate them by creating amazing billboards throughout our community,” the foundation posted on Facebook. “We have begun the process and would love to have your help. [...] Let’s show our officers how much we value them. They need our support now more than ever.”
If only they spent as much energy putting the officers involved in her death behind bars, but just because the devil is busy doesn’t mean we have to entertain him.
We will say her name and we will get justice for Breonna.