Mediaboss Marketing

Celebrities such as Jada Pinkett Smith, Common and Muhammad Ali's cousin turn out for the Breonna Taylor rally in Frankfort Louisville Courier Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "PROTECT HER," hip-hop star Common's message was clear Thursday afternoon.

Stand up for Black women, he said. And stand up for Breonna Taylor.

"I will stand up for and with Black women 'til my last breath," Common said in a poem he wrote about Taylor. "The date Breonna took her last breath was the date I took my first. March 13 is my birthday. And I will always honor Breonna on that day."

He finished: "Better tomorrows begin with us lifting up the Black woman."

More than 500 people gathered on the front steps of Kentucky's Capitol in the hot midday sun for the #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor rally, over 100 days since Taylor, a 26-year-old ER technician, was fatally shot by police in her Louisville apartment.

Common, actress Jada Pinkett Smith and rapper Rapsody were among the celebrities that stood alongside Taylor's family and attorneys in Frankfort.

For nearly three hours, rallygoers demanded justice not only for Taylorbut for all of the countrys Black women. Speakers at times referenceda 1962 quote from Malcolm X, who called the Black woman the most neglected person in America.

Thursday's rally was organized by Until Freedom, a New York-based collective of activists, organizers and survivors of racial injustice.

Breonna Taylor is everywhere, said Tamika Mallory, a national activist with Until Freedom.

The issue of Black women being killed and our voices being too low is a problem, Mallory continued, urging those in the crowd to learn about Pamela Turner, a Black woman from Houston who was shot and killed by police in May 2019.

Mallory called on Kentuckians to continue calling for justice in the Taylor case. The nation will be watching, she said, before directing her statement to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, whose office is investigating Taylors death.

This aint no little thing where people aint paying attention, Mallory said.

Ben Crump, a Florida-based attorney for Taylor's family who has represented other families of Black Americans, said he believes Taylor is the face of a growing movement.

Taylor will be for Black women what Trayvon Martin has becomefor Black men, Crump said after the rally, referring to the 17-year-old unarmed teen who was fatally shot in Florida by a would-be vigilante named George Zimmerman.

On stage, Crump called on Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who made one of his first public appearances since prosecutors droppedcharges against him more than a month ago.

Walker was charged with attempted-murder and assault for firing a shot inside Taylor's apartment on March 13 while police were serving a search warrant, striking Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the femoral artery. Walker has said he did not know it was police behind the door, and that he acted in self-defense.

Three officers returned fire, killing Taylor, who was unarmed, in her hallway.

Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove remain on administrative reassignment for firing their weapons, and Brett Hankison, the third officer who fired his weapon that night, has been terminated from the police department, with the interim chief calling his actions "a shock to the conscience."

Hankison is appealing his termination.

We call a brother a hero who tries to defend his Black woman, Crump said. That is the definition of a hero.

Walker, who came to the podium amid chants of hero!kept his comments brief.

I know yall ain't heard a lot from me, if anything," he said. "But I just want to let yall know I appreciate all the love and support for me, and most definitely for Breonna. She would appreciate it, too.

"#Breewayy," he added, the family's hashtag and rallying cry for Breonna, before turning to embrace Crump.

Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, brought with her a "Justice for Breonna Taylor"yard sign as a "gift" for Gov. Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

Put it in the yard, right in the middle," she said. "They need to remember their job, everyday.

Mysonne Linen, or The N.Y. General, a rapper and activist from the Bronx, and co-founder of Until Freedom, called Walker to his side before leading the crowd in a pledge to protect Black women.

This is a hero, he said, pointing at Walker. No longer will we stand and watch our Black women be harmed. We have to sacrifice our lives, if need be, to protect our Black women.

So we are pledging today that, not on our watch, will you ever harm another Black woman.

Songs from Black hip-hop artists, including Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Jadakiss, blared from loudspeakers stationed atop the Capitol steps as people arrived at the rally late Thursday morning.

A legislative staffer who left her office to view the start of the rally said she had spent the past 24 hours reading about the Taylor case and watching documentaries about racial injustice in the U.S.

Theyre killing them, said the woman, who was middle-aged and white.

The police are killing them. And I didnt know it, she said, tears in her eyes.

Before speakers took to the podium around noon, organizers played the song Rise Up by Sandra Day an unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement. Hundreds in the crowd sang along, their fists held high in the air.

When the song concluded, one woman lowered her fist to her face, using it to wipe a tear from her cheek.

Throughout the day, people could be seen viewing the crowd below from a portico above the Capitol steps, from Black custodial workers to Sen. Gerald Neal, a Louisville Democrat and the longest serving African-American member of the Kentucky legislature.

Democratic state Rep. Attica Scott of Louisville, Kentucky's only Black woman in the legislature, said "every level of government has failed us."

"From Attorney General Daniel Cameron to Gov. Andy Beshear," Scott said. "We are here to send a strong and loud message to the attorney general: To move swiftly, or get out of the way. We are here to send a strong message to Gov. Beshear: You better not ever send the State Police and National Guard to Louisville, Kentucky, ever again."

She also thanked the protesters who have been occupying "Injustice Square Park" the protesters name for Jefferson Square Park andthose who've called on Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer to resign.

"Yougot to go," she said. "Resign, Fischer."

Rapper Common reads a poem he wrote for Breonna Taylor during a rally in her honor on the steps of the Capitol building in Frankfort. Louisville Courier Journal

Sean Ali Waddell, Muhammad Ali's cousin, drew a raucous response from the protesters during an impassioned speech in which he finished with a demand for Cameron to charge the officers responsible for Taylor's death.

"Don't you be on the wrong side of history," Waddell said. "Don't you stay on the wrong side of history."

With the temperature soaring near 90 degrees, some speeches were interrupted by urgent calls for medics. Rally organizers several times lugged coolers stocked with ice and bottled water to the base of the Capitol steps.

As some took the shade on the nearby lawn, 26-year-old Alexis Taylor of Louisville stood tall under the scorching sun. For hours, she hollered support at the rallys speakers.

The event left her feeling really empowered and really energized, she said.

Taylor, a Black woman, said she felt a special connection to Breonna: They shared the same last name. They were the same age. They both lived in Louisville.

It could have easily been me, she said.

Taylor said she has had white friends come to her in recent weeks and apologize for not taking time to better understand what she and Black people go through every day. Seeing people of different races at the rally and at protests in Louisville makes her emotional, Taylor said.

A lot of people are starting to wake up. And that's good. And that means that these protests are working.

This has to end, one way or another, she added. And were just going to keep going until it does.

Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: http://www.courier-journal.com/subscribe.

Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/06/25/breonna-taylor-rally-kentucky-rally-frankfort-demands-justice/3243061001/

Link:
Breonna Taylor rally: Common, Rapsody join 500-plus in vowing to stand up for Black women - Courier Journal