The Pain of Remembering Breonna Taylor
The significance of a year without justice
On March 13, 2021, Americans across the country hopped onto social media to remind one another that exactly one year has passed since Breonna Taylor was murdered in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment.
We all know the story, but if you need a refresher: Breonna, 26-year-old EMT, goes to bed with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, on the evening of March 12. The couple wakes up just after midnight to three plainclothes police officers entering Breonna’s apartment unannounced. Kenneth, thinking intruders are in the apartment, fires a warning shot. The three officers then fire blindly into the apartment, releasing 32 rounds, five of which hit Breonna. She dies in her hallway.
I write about Breonna’s death in the present tense because, for a year now, these eight minutes have been recounted over and over. These events are discussed, debated, and grieved daily. Though her murder happened 366 days ago, it has yet to slip into the past.
Just two months later, the world met George Floyd through a viral video of his murder at the hands of police. The footage of his murder bolstered the Black Lives Matter movement in a new way, inspiring people across the world to demand justice and an end to the state-sanctioned murder of Black Americans.
