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Still Saying Her Name: Breonna Taylor One Year Later
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00:00:00Good evening. I'm Corey Murray, Deputy Editor of Essence, and welcome to Still Saying Her Name,
00:00:08Breonna Taylor. Saturday, March 13th marks one year since her senseless death. In honor of her
00:00:14memory, we've assembled a variety of voices to weigh in on how far we've come one year later,
00:00:19including more ways the community can continue to galvanize, how her death sparked the creation of
00:00:25the George Floyd Policing Act, how Gen Z can raise their voices and continue keeping her memory
00:00:30and the movement alive and more. Let's listen in. I want to jump in and first say thank you.
00:00:39Thank you as an American. Thank you as a mother. Thank you as a journalist for introducing the
00:00:46George Floyd Justice Policing Act. It's a bill that you've introduced, you've been fighting for,
00:00:51it's getting passed, but we're also here on the anniversary of Breonna Taylor's death, her tragic
00:00:57murder. And we're left with so many unanswered questions, not only about her case, but also
00:01:02George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, so many names, countless names. And as a community, how can we make our voices
00:01:10heard in the midst of so much social unrest? How do we go forward? Well, let me just say too, first of
00:01:17all, thank you for including me and, you know, hats off to Essence and for so many years covering
00:01:23our community and our women. So the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act bans no-knock warrants,
00:01:30and that's what led to Breonna Taylor's death. They kicked her door in, they had the wrong door,
00:01:37and then they tried to cover it up by arresting her boyfriend and by getting another man to lie
00:01:44and say that she was actually involved in drug dealing. So here's what everybody can do.
00:01:50We passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act out of the House a week ago, and now we needed to
00:01:57pass in the Senate. So we need people to say, to tweet, to send emails, phone calls, and say ban
00:02:06no-knock warrants, ban chokeholds. You know, we need a registry of bad officers for officers who do
00:02:15things like kicking in the wrong door and killing somebody. We should know about that. The community
00:02:20should know about that. So the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has those provisions in it.
00:02:26And if everybody tweeted and on social media talked about banning chokeholds and banning no-knock
00:02:32warrants, you will help us get the bill passed in the Senate. We need your support. We need your
00:02:37involvement. This bill is so important, but can we talk about what else Congress has been able to do
00:02:45in wake of how Breonna was treated? Like what other bills or legislation are you working on or has been
00:02:50put forth? Well, there's a lot of different bills, but I go back to the George Floyd bill because that's
00:02:58the comprehensive one. We, in fact, took many bills and put them together. And so within the George Floyd
00:03:04Justice in Policing Act, we also allow people to sue police officers. You remember when the guy that killed
00:03:11George Floyd was looking at the camera while he was killing him? Yeah. Because he wasn't worried about
00:03:16anything. He felt he could act with impunity. And so he knew he couldn't be sued. He didn't think he could be
00:03:22fired. He didn't think he could be prosecuted because the law is structured to protect police
00:03:29officers from being sued, from being fired, from being prosecuted. The George Floyd Justice in Policing
00:03:35Act changes that. So all of those pieces are in one bill. Okay. You know, since everything, again,
00:03:44we're looking at the year, so much has changed. But for you, I mean, this has been a lot of heartbreak,
00:03:50but has there been any joy in getting this bill passed? No, absolutely. Because I'll tell you
00:03:56something, even though we failed to act all the way, okay, because of all of the people that were
00:04:03out in the street protesting, because we did put the bill forward, a lot of states and cities and
00:04:10counties started passing their own laws. For example, in Louisville, where Breonna Taylor was,
00:04:17they've now banned no-knock warrants. So even though we weren't able to act, just knowing the federal
00:04:24government is coming, because remember what the federal government has, we have the bank, we have
00:04:28the purse strings. And so when states and counties and cities realized that change was happening, it rolled
00:04:35through the country. But I don't believe that any of those changes would have happened, including the
00:04:41George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. If it were not for the hundreds of thousands of people that
00:04:47were on the streets peacefully, I'm not talking about the people that looted or the people that
00:04:51rioted. I'm talking about the peaceful protests that helped bring about change in the same way the
00:04:58peaceful protests of the 60s, the 70s, and the 80s brought about the changes that took place in those
00:05:04times. This bill is a beautiful way to honor her death. But is there anything else that you're going
00:05:10to do to honor her death on Friday? I'm going to work really hard to get this bill on President
00:05:17Biden's desk. That's what I can do. That's the most important thing that I can do. And you need to know
00:05:23that just because you don't see it on TV, it doesn't mean that we are not here working around the clock.
00:05:30It is the number one issue that I am working on and I am going to stay working on it until President
00:05:35Biden signs it. Now, it's a whole different day with President Biden and Vice President Harris. You
00:05:41have a president that in his inauguration speech talked about racial equity. He's put racial equity
00:05:49at the center of his administration and understands that changing policing in the United States is one of
00:05:56the absolute measures. And he's pushing harder, frankly, than we're moving in Congress. So you
00:06:04want to talk about something that gives me joy. What gives me joy is knowing that there's somebody in
00:06:08the White House who's actually concerned about us. Amen. And what a great way to end this conversation
00:06:14because I know you've got to get back to work. Thank you, Representative Bass. Thank you. You're very
00:06:18welcome. Thank you for having me on. Hi, everybody. I'm Sheila Harris with the Public Relations
00:06:23Department of Essence Magazine. As we continue this important discussion, it's my pleasure and honor
00:06:29to introduce our next guest. She is the Kentucky State Representative. Her name is Attica Scott.
00:06:34Representative Scott, thank you so much for joining us today. It's an honor, Sheila, especially as
00:06:40someone who was part of the inaugural hashtag woke 100 list of Essence Magazine. Excellent. We're so glad to
00:06:47have you. So let's get started. We know that since Breonna's tragic death, you yourself have pushed for
00:06:54police reform through the no knock bill or Breonna's law, as some call it. Can you describe to our
00:07:00audience what that means and what it entails? Definitely. So we actually recently had a hearing
00:07:05with House Bill 21, which is the people's Breonna's law. It grew out of the movement for justice for
00:07:11Breonna Taylor. We worked with her family attorney, local organizations on crafting Breonna's law.
00:07:18There was a bill in the Senate that was also crafted and filed literally the day before the filing
00:07:24deadline a few weeks ago. And that is the bill that ultimately ended up passing out of committee this
00:07:29week, the Judiciary Committee. What our law would have done was ban no knock warrants across the
00:07:35Commonwealth of Kentucky. It would have mandated alcohol and drug testing for officers who were involved
00:07:40in deadly incidences. And it would mandate the use of body-worn cameras to make sure that there's
00:07:47documentation of when a search warrant is being served. All of those were in our Breonna's law,
00:07:53House Bill 21. Unfortunately, it did not move forward. But we're working now with the sponsor of
00:07:59Senate Bill 4 to try to get some elements of Breonna's law into that bill.
00:08:04So talk a little bit about some of those roadblocks you did face because you said that it got passed in
00:08:08one area but not the other. Just talk about some of the roadblocks and what that entailed.
00:08:13Well, when I filed the bill, I was the only Black woman in our state legislative body, 138 members,
00:08:19and I was the first one elected in almost 20 years. And none of my bills and none of the bills of any
00:08:25member of the legislative Black caucus had been heard for five years. So that was already a barrier,
00:08:30not having our bills heard even in committee for discussion only. Not only that, when I filed the bill
00:08:36in August of 2020, I was actually attacked by the state paternal order of police. They didn't attack
00:08:43the white man, the president of the Senate, who had announced just a couple of months before that
00:08:48that he was also going to be filing a similar bill. So I had all of those uphill battles to
00:08:54address, as well as being targeted for arrest by police in September. And so all of that was a
00:09:02roadblock to me. And then the bill didn't even get assigned to committee until a couple of weeks
00:09:06ago. And the hearing this week on Thursday, on Wednesday, rather, was so late in the day that
00:09:13we only had six days remaining in the legislative session. There was no way that the people's bill,
00:09:18House Bill 21, Breonna's Law, would have had a chance of passing the legislative body.
00:09:23Are you optimistic that it will ever get passed?
00:09:25Well, at this point, it won't be able to get past this legislative session. So we're now working to
00:09:32improve Senate Bill 4 so that it can at least come close to what the people have been crying out for
00:09:38with the banning of no-not warrants, as well as some police accountability based on what happened
00:09:43to Breonna Taylor the night she was murdered on Friday, March 13, 2020. So that's where we are now.
00:09:49And then we'll, of course, come back in the January 2022 session to address even more of the issues
00:09:56surrounding police accountability and violent policing. We don't want this to happen to anyone
00:10:01else anywhere in Kentucky. And as Breonna's mom, Ms. Tamika Palmer, often says, her daughter just
00:10:07wanted to save lives. And that's what we hope will happen with legislation banning no-not warrants.
00:10:14Excellent. Excellent. Now, as a state representative, you definitely, and a member
00:10:19of the Louisville community, you definitely have been boots on the ground, hands-on in terms of
00:10:24the fight. You even mentioned being arrested, and some would say unfairly a couple months ago,
00:10:29simply for protesting. What advice could you give to the community for those who want to raise their
00:10:34voices, but they may be afraid of repercussions or actions such as that? What advice would you give?
00:10:39I encourage folks, please show up in whatever way you can. We are coming upon one year since
00:10:46Breonna Taylor was murdered. There are going to be a weekend full of activities. I encourage folks
00:10:50to get involved. And after that, stay engaged in whatever way feels comfortable and safe for you.
00:10:55I never imagined that my teenage daughter and I would be arrested literally while walking while Black
00:11:00fighting for justice for Breonna Taylor. And I know that that can make a lot of you feel
00:11:04uncomfortable, but contact your local and state elected officials. Contact your federal elected
00:11:09officials. I'm sending a resolution to the new United States Attorney General to fully investigate
00:11:15the murder of Breonna Taylor. Support efforts like that. Get those kinds of efforts moving across
00:11:20your state and get your state legislative bodies to do something similar so that we have a policy and
00:11:26legislative movement that's seeking justice for Breonna Taylor. I believe that we can all do
00:11:30something wherever we are. If not everyone is capable or willing or interested in coming out
00:11:36physically, physically is not the only way you show up. There are lots of ways to show up for racial
00:11:40justice. Absolutely. And we also noticed that the last four years, it was so critical and so
00:11:47important that everyone would come out to vote and we see a positive result. But we also know that
00:11:52some people have a tendency of only voting for the larger, quote unquote, larger elections, the presidential
00:11:57every four years or so. Talk about the importance of galvanizing, raising your voice while voting at
00:12:04even the state and local level and how important that is. Well, folks, I wouldn't be serving here
00:12:09as the first Black woman in 20 years to serve in the Kentucky legislature if it wasn't for the folks
00:12:13who got out and vote. The folks who live where I live in predominantly Black Louisville, the West End of
00:12:18Louisville, whose doors I knocked on and asked for their votes and who said they'd never had anyone
00:12:22knock on their door and ask for their vote because they had been written off. They showed up and voted.
00:12:25That matters. That makes a difference. It matters that you have people at the local level in places
00:12:30like Corpus Christi, Texas, where they have filed an ordinance called Breonna's Law. It makes a
00:12:35difference that you elect people who are willing to do that. So please know that really the most
00:12:40important elections are those local and state elections because that's where we work every single
00:12:45day on the issues that impact you as you live, work, and worship wherever you are.
00:12:51Excellent. And the last thing is you mentioned that there are a variety of events and
00:12:55things that are taking place this weekend. Can you give us a brief summary and, you know, for those
00:12:59of us who aren't in Louisville, how else we can get involved, maybe virtually? Let's talk about
00:13:03that a little bit. Certainly. So folks, Injustice Square Park has been the heart of the movement
00:13:08for justice for Breonna Taylor. It's in downtown Louisville, across the street from the mayor's
00:13:13office, down the street from the police department, across the street from the jail, where more than
00:13:17700 people were unjustly arrested in 2020, seeking justice for Breonna Taylor. All weekend, there are going to be
00:13:23activities. On Saturday afternoon, our grassroots on the ground organizers have a cool day of
00:13:29activities that kick off at one o'clock with the March and Rally. And then the Breonna Taylor
00:13:34Foundation that her family started with their settlement is going to be providing hot meals
00:13:38to folks. Because what we've done in Louisville has been really clear that people who are houseless
00:13:42are fully integrated into our movement. So when you go to Justice Square, you don't even know who's
00:13:47houseless and who's not. But we always want to make sure to provide hot meals to whomever shows up.
00:13:51After that, please continue to take action in your own community to get your city council
00:13:57or your state legislative body to pass a Breonna's law to ban, no not warrants.
00:14:03Excellent. Excellent. What website can we go to to find all that information? Where can we find it?
00:14:08Very good question. So on Facebook, you can look up Injustice Square Park. And you can find all of
00:14:14the lists of activities at Injustice Square Park. They're also on Instagram and Twitter.
00:14:20Excellent. Representative Scott, thank you so much for joining us and continue the fight.
00:14:25Thank you so much.
00:14:30So joining me now is creative writer and educator, Lene Vene. Thank you so much for joining me today,
00:14:38Lene. So let's start with your platform.
00:14:42Sure. How are you using your platform as a form of modern day protests?
00:14:48Well, a lot of folks call it edutainment. And I like that word. I'm educating people and I'm
00:14:53entertaining them. I'm bringing tough topics to the table, but making them light enough to make
00:14:58people want to come to the table and eat and partake in fellowship and promote understanding.
00:15:04So yeah, I just try my best to make folks laugh. I didn't see myself as a comedian, but I do know
00:15:11that with a lot of these things, even amongst Black communities, we're so focused on, not focused,
00:15:17but there's a lot of trauma associated with Black folk. And while that's true, it's still a lot of
00:15:22stuff that we have to unpack to understand where it comes from, how it connects to everyday life.
00:15:27So while I have a background in African-American history, I'm always relating it to what's going on
00:15:31right now, because these things, as much as people want to convince us, don't exist anymore.
00:15:35They're literally streamlined, you know? So that's what I do.
00:15:39Can we talk to the fact? I've seen a couple of your pieces.
00:15:42Let me tell you what these good old boys do when they say, give me liberty or give me death.
00:15:46Give me the liberty to be sexist, racist, xenophobic, anti-queer, and anti-anybody that don't
00:15:50prescribe to my transatlantic version of Christianity or off with their heads. It's either their way
00:15:54or the highway, but it's documented in your words that all men are created equal under God.
00:15:59We didn't mean that for the Blacks. So now when we are using a system that you created to obtain
00:16:03the rights you get to experience so freely, all of a sudden it's democracy. Throw the whole thing
00:16:07away.
00:16:07You say that you don't see yourself as a comedian, but the things that you were saying,
00:16:11you were dropping so many gems, you were hilarious. And like you said, you were bringing education
00:16:16as well. But how important is that, right? For you to know that you can't just present information.
00:16:24You have to be able to package it in a certain way. So when did you know that's how you want it
00:16:29to present this information, to draw in your audience?
00:16:32Well, I've kind of always had this type of content to offer, but I also know a lot of people didn't
00:16:38want to hear it. So it was a combination of me finally figuring out the formula and also the rest
00:16:42of the world being ready to embrace this type of content. But I did start out saying that I'm going to
00:16:48try these like 10 minute videos. I thought that was short enough to explain these heavy hitting
00:16:52topics. I'm going to put it on YouTube and I'm going to post on the Facebook, post clips to my
00:16:56Instagram. But what I know about people, what I know about myself on Instagram is that when I'm
00:17:00scrolling, I'm not going to go click to an additional link. If it's not right here in my
00:17:03face, I'm not going to watch it. Also, if you put a 10 minute video on Instagram, I'm probably not
00:17:07going to watch it. So instead of trying to take snippets or trailers of my longer videos, I said,
00:17:12you know what? I need to crash this down, to crunch this down into two and a half minutes.
00:17:17And that's what I try my best to do. But even with the two and a half minutes, that's still a long time
00:17:22for people scrolling on social media. So I really tried to figure out how can I catch people's
00:17:27attention with my first line? How can I keep their attention with the second? And then how can I kind
00:17:33of go on to this journey and whatever my topic is in a way that's going to like have them holding
00:17:37onto their seats, following me through this ride. And I figured it out. It took a very long time.
00:17:42I even, I don't know what I was doing or why I did this, but I went back down as my own rabbit hole
00:17:48and watched some of my older videos. And I was like, this was horrible. Like why do people like
00:17:53this? But it's just kind of like a testament to the work that I've been doing and how consistent
00:17:57I've been in the growth there. And yeah, I'm just getting more and more in tune with people.
00:18:03But I think another big key to it is that I always make sure I include messages that celebrate or
00:18:09uplift the underdog and make sure as many people feel seen as possible because it's really that
00:18:13connecting piece that makes people so like dedicated in my DMs. Hey girl, where's the video?
00:18:18Your picture is cute, but you know, I think that's wonderful. I think it's great that you
00:18:26can be transparent, right? You have that understanding that it didn't start off so great,
00:18:30but you learned what you needed to do for your audience. And like you say, a lot of us,
00:18:35we have short attention spans. I know for instance, I wouldn't click on a 10 minute video either
00:18:40if I were scrolling Instagram, because I'm trying to get information quick. And like you said,
00:18:44you have to grab your audience's attention. And honestly, you do just that. You keep me locked
00:18:50in. So it's like, if I were watching one of your videos, right, say it was 10 minutes,
00:18:53and I just happened to click on it within the first like 10 seconds, I'd be hooked. And by the
00:18:58time I know it, I've watched 10 minutes of you. So I think a really great job. But for those who want
00:19:06to educate like you, for those who want to spread awareness, how can they use their voices? How can
00:19:12they use their platforms to speak out against social unrest and injustice?
00:19:18So I think there's actually like a proliferation of that. We're in the midst of a renaissance with
00:19:23media, television, even on social media. I think the summer of 2020 really helped catalyze this era,
00:19:29but a lot of folks using social now are using it to educate people. And even like beyond race issues,
00:19:35before the summer of 2020, we were having nurses tell us hacks about what to know if this happens
00:19:40to you or what's the best thing to do to take care of yourself. Paramedics sharing tips, life hacks
00:19:45were a big thing. And so I think people have kind of done what's been needed to be done as far as using
00:19:52social as an educational platform. Now, I just think it's a project of making sure that especially
00:19:57with race issues, it's not trendified. I know that's not a word, but it's not like treated like a
00:20:03trend. It's not commercialized. It's not trivialized. It's not, you know, kind of half done.
00:20:09Like it has to be like a full commitment type thing. And to be quite honest, most creators,
00:20:13most people with the reach and the depth to share these stories, you know, may not be people of color.
00:20:20And so we have to really be committed to the endeavor of allyship as well. Yeah. And with that,
00:20:26with that, I just think it's going to be tricky because if we don't want it to become a trend,
00:20:32we have to get this sort of understanding that race issues are not a black folk problem or issue
00:20:38that they need to carry. It's really something that white people have to figure it out. And,
00:20:42you know, with our partnership and that thing, but again, they're going to have to figure out
00:20:46longevity because white people are used to it. Like we have our episodes being exhausted with it.
00:20:51We have our moments of triumph of getting galvanized and getting organized,
00:20:55but we're used to carrying this mantle of progress in terms of race relations. And so the big kahunas
00:21:03are either going to have to amplify, continue amplifying black voices or figure it out in the
00:21:08long haul and keep it pushing. Lene, I think it's important what you said where we can be
00:21:14exhaustive, right? Because we have these conversations over and over again. It's tiring
00:21:19to see the same thing happen to our African-American brothers and sisters. But when I was attending
00:21:27protests last year over the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Maude Aubrey, and George Floyd, I ran into
00:21:33a lot of white people, as you were saying, who essentially were there to educate themselves so
00:21:37that they can go back and educate their families and friends because they know that there's a problem.
00:21:42But for them, it doesn't resonate as well because they're not a part of the black community
00:21:47or, you know, the brown community or any other people of color as community. And so
00:21:52I think what you're saying is very important, but us as black people, right, have to also be willing
00:21:58to accept a white person or an Asian person or just somebody out of our race trying to help and
00:22:05explain things as well. Because for some of us, we'll say they're not credible. What do they know
00:22:10about our struggle? What do they know what we're going through? But their voices are just as important
00:22:15because they can reach people that we can't. So I think it's very important that you mention that.
00:22:20But since we are talking about the anniversary of Breonna Taylor, let's just go back. If you can
00:22:28recall what you were doing, where you were when you received the news or saw the headline or saw the
00:22:35news on television of her death, this woman sleeping in her apartment when officers had this no-knock
00:22:42warrant and shot her dead as she was sleeping.
00:22:45I was sitting in my home because quarantine, but I was somewhere being exhausted, numb to it. Like,
00:22:58literally, because it was coming off the heels of George Floyd. Being in Atlanta, it was coming off
00:23:02the heels of Ahmaud Arbery. And it was just like, here we go once again. And I really didn't even have
00:23:09the capacity to think about it, to deal with it. And unfortunately, and I hate to say this, but I
00:23:14feel like it's, again, being transparent and showing that all Black people don't have the same capacity
00:23:19to deal with these things as frequently. But I have to take Breonna Taylor in pieces
00:23:23because it was just so much more difficult because she was a Black woman, because she was really,
00:23:30literally, innocently in her bed. And to be quite honest, it doesn't matter what Black people are
00:23:33doing more often than not. In situations like these, nothing that we've done warrants our life
00:23:38being taken. To hear all of the bits and pieces around it as I'm gathering information about her
00:23:44story, about her being framed, about them being in the wrong place at the wrong time, about her
00:23:50boyfriend standing his ground, doing what he's supposed to do, defending their home,
00:23:56and she dies as a result of it. And it just, I was taking in like the audacity, the caucasity of it
00:24:04all, like literally barging into the wrong home, being able to take someone's life and it what being
00:24:09a casualty, an occupational hazard, and like just digesting once again, these messages of the
00:24:18fungibility, the fungibility of Black bodies and the disposability of Black life and just how much of
00:24:24dust off the shoulder it is for these people. And I already like prepped with an arsenal of things
00:24:28to defend these people. And as I was, as I was brushing up on the anniversary and what people
00:24:35are doing in Louisville and hearing from Brianna's mother, like one of the biggest messages that I was
00:24:39able to pull from it was, we're still waiting on accountability, right? There's been, the family was
00:24:47given $12 million. People talking about what her mother did with that money, completely none of their
00:24:52business number one. And that's a whole nother story. We have Brianna's law. That's still not
00:24:58permit. That's still not passing the entire state of Kentucky. Her boyfriend was just cleared of all
00:25:06charges, but we don't have accountability for her death yet. And I can, I'm, I'm going in my head
00:25:12thinking about what the argument would be playing devil's advocate for a second, just trying to
00:25:17conceptualize what the argument would be. Oh, we gave money. Oh, we made a law. Oh, we said that it
00:25:22was wrong, I guess, but we didn't say that it was wrong that this person killed her specifically.
00:25:30And so what I'm seeing is, is there's still that step that needs to be taken of not just white people,
00:25:36but of the government, the governing body that protects situations like this to show the
00:25:42accountability and sacrificing the sanctity of the people it protects. Because one of the biggest
00:25:47thing that contributes to the problem is we're still saying that these people did nothing wrong
00:25:51because they were following policy. But if anybody knows, like we know policy is not always humane.
00:25:58Policy is not always morally correct or good in nature. You know, owning other people used to be
00:26:03policy, stoning other people used to be policy, sterilizing black women used to be policy, sterilizing
00:26:09immigrant women is still unspoken policy right now. So I think we have to really rethink what policy
00:26:16means. And that's going to be the next step in really securing the justice that black people are
00:26:23asking for. With the issues that black people have faced, let's say from the beginning of time to just
00:26:30up to last year, once again, with Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and at the end of last year,
00:26:36where the DOJ ruled that the officers responsible for Tamir's death weren't going to be charged or
00:26:43sentenced. Once again, just saying that black lives don't matter, black lives are disposable.
00:26:49Are you hopeful that we will see changes in the coming years as we saw people protesting,
00:26:57not just in this country, but across the world? When we saw those deaths take place last year,
00:27:02people just asking for defunding the police, police reform across the board, not just in the police
00:27:08departments, but in the school system, policies being put in place. Do you think that we will
00:27:14see real change in the near future?
00:27:18It's unfortunate because I, my first mind is, yes, I am hopeful. Like last summer gave me hope,
00:27:26but the black woman in me who's been living these 25 years, not even the full scope of what's been
00:27:32done to black people on this continent. Like I just, I don't want to let myself completely have
00:27:38hope. There's that, there's that inkling in the back that is preparing me to be let down again.
00:27:42However, with all that being said, I do believe there's a new breath. There was a new wind given
00:27:49to a lot of black people who were exhausted at the beginning of 2020. That is going to take us
00:27:54a long way. And I think the breath wasn't just galvanized. It was not just refreshed in African
00:28:00Americans, but like you said, a lot of white people coming to the table to educate themselves.
00:28:05We have a lot of corporations, whether it's real or not, a lot of corporations making statements,
00:28:10doing things to show that they are in support of black lives. And, you know, no matter how superficial
00:28:16these things may look, I think there is enough in the air for us to continue pressing like, okay,
00:28:22you're not done yet. This is nice, but you're not done yet. Even with the election, I think
00:28:26that was one of the biggest hills that we had to climb, the biggest hump for African Americans
00:28:32specifically to feel like their voice actually matters, to see their votes actually working
00:28:37in ways that it never has before. So I think there is possibility, absolutely, for us to get some
00:28:44of the things that we need. But I would, I would, I would be being a bit too optimistic and too green
00:28:51if I said we're going to have everything that we need in the next couple of years.
00:28:54And you're not alone. I have a lot of activists that I've been in touch with, for example,
00:29:01from the George Floyd case. And right now they're just all out there, Minneapolis protesting,
00:29:07obviously this trial, trying to demand justice be served in this case, but they're not hopeful at all.
00:29:13They saw what happened with Breonna Taylor. They saw what happened with Chameer Rice and the
00:29:18countless others that came before them. And it would be great, right? It would be great for most
00:29:24of us to be hopeful. We all want more. We all want to be changed. But Lene, you are not alone when it
00:29:30comes to this. We're going to end it on this note, but is there any way that people can follow you and
00:29:36see what you're doing and just follow you on your platform to support you?
00:29:40Yeah. You can reach me everywhere. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter at underscore Lenezy, L-Y-N-E-E-Z-Y.
00:29:49And just visit me every day, every Friday in the parking lot. I have a Black History lesson for
00:29:54you in under two and a half minutes.
00:29:56All right. Awesome. Thank you so much, Lene, for your time. And thank you for doing what you do on
00:30:01your platform. You are needed.
00:30:02Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
00:30:05You are welcome.
00:30:06Hello again. This is Sheila Harris with the PR Department for Assets Magazine. And once again,
00:30:11it gives me great honor and pleasure to introduce the next person who will join in on this important
00:30:17and critical conversation. She's Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. I'm proud to say another Sheila.
00:30:23And she joins us today in this conversation as we look one year later on the passing and the death
00:30:29of Breonna Taylor. Congresswoman, thank you so, so much for joining us today.
00:30:33Thank you so very much. I could not be more gratified, more convicted and convinced that we
00:30:40need to rectify the tragic and reckless death of Breonna Taylor and for the world to know who
00:30:48Breonna Taylor was and her legacy and to be able to say her name, Breonna Taylor.
00:30:54Excellent. Excellent. Talk to me in your role. We know that there is a lot that has been done
00:31:01since her tragic death, definitely in the halls of Congress. Talk about the fight and what you're
00:31:06doing and what your other peers are doing to rectify this so that this does not happen again.
00:31:12Well, I'm glad I have the sisterhood here in the United States Congress. Many of the members of
00:31:19Congress who are African-American women were obviously incensed about this very brutal death,
00:31:26if you will, this killing of a young woman whose life was before her, who had every desire to be a
00:31:32public servant, a health professional, an EMS, a nurse, to be a healer and to be the loving daughter
00:31:39of her mother and, of course, a relative to so many people and, of course, a girlfriend to her
00:31:45boyfriend who attempted, of course, to protect her and to save her life. So we understand that she
00:31:52was the victim of reckless policies and police misconduct that generated poorly contrived wrong
00:32:01address warrants, warrants that were unknown to others, wrong addresses. That's unacceptable.
00:32:09Once you have a gun, you have an obligation to be at the level of excellence that should not be
00:32:15challenged. And so I can't accept the fact that it was a mistake or someone downtown didn't review it.
00:32:23That is unacceptable. A beautiful young woman is dead. So first of all, of course, in legislation that
00:32:29has been constructed by many members of Congress, and it is called the George Floyd Justice and Policing
00:32:36Act. George Floyd's family. George Floyd grew up in Houston, Texas. He lived in Minneapolis at the
00:32:44time. But in order to give a reference and honor to Breonna Taylor and realizing the horrificness of
00:32:53the various elements of police misconduct, we put in there no federal no-knock warrants, of which,
00:33:01of course, her city followed subsequently. And there are no no-knocks in her city where this horrific
00:33:11tragedy came about. But we're not going to finish this work until we comprehensively look at
00:33:19redesigning policing so that you have no more chokeholds, no more racial profiling. That happens
00:33:25a lot in our neighborhoods. The reason why they may have had the wrong address, here's another
00:33:29apartment where Black people live. And so we're going to racially profile. We're not going to
00:33:34pause for a moment to make sure we had the right address or that the offender that we were looking
00:33:38for was already downtown. We don't need to look at any of those. It's a Black home, and all we need
00:33:46to do is to deal with that. We want a complete overhaul so that we do not have these tragedies
00:33:52happening over and over again. So as I said, the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act remembers
00:33:58Breonna Taylor with insisting that there be no no-knocks, no racial profiling, no qualified
00:34:06immunity where you don't have a right as a victim to go into court. You're absolutely ruled out because
00:34:12of qualified immunity. We're going to be looking at the fact that police officers in these very
00:34:19senseless killings have not been convicted. And part of it, of course, is the idea of the present
00:34:26construct of the law. So I will be looking at questions of whether they're federal civil rights
00:34:31violations of all of these victims. There's a whole list of victims that we have called their names
00:34:37over the years. And the roll call, the infamous roll call, the tragic roll call, the roll call where
00:34:44mothers and fathers and relatives still have tears coming down their eyes. And that is, of course,
00:34:50from Tamir Rice to Trayvon Martin and beyond. And now Breonna Taylor, joined with Sondra Bland and
00:34:57Pamela Turner and others. So we're going to be looking at why federal civil rights cases have not been
00:35:04brought against these officers. Walter Scott's perpetrator, who everyone saw shoot him in the back,
00:35:11was finally convicted on federal civil rights charges. So we're going to do that kind of work.
00:35:17And we're going to constantly continue to work with communities, Black Lives Matter, to be able to
00:35:23have a policing law enforcement system that is representative of what this nation is supposed to
00:35:33be, a shining city on the hill, a democracy. And we know there are many different perspectives
00:35:38of what people want to do with policing. Those are in local communities. And we urge that kind of
00:35:44creativity. We, in this legislation, give resources for that community or those communities to develop
00:35:51reimagined ways of dealing with law enforcement across America.
00:35:57Excellent. Excellent. As a member of the community, what can we do? What can we, to help with this process,
00:36:04what can we say to our local political leaders? And what advice would you give for the community to
00:36:09really speak out and to reach out to the political leaders to make sure this passes and everything,
00:36:14we have a brighter future? Well, let me thank Essence, first of all, for this reminder, this
00:36:20commemoration, this recognition, this vital acknowledgement of Breonna Taylor's life and
00:36:27tragically her death. That's very important. None of these names and her name should ever be
00:36:34so much lost in the annals of history that we don't forget or that we do forget. We must not forget.
00:36:43And so that is one aspect of it, that we should tell the stories of these individuals. They are part
00:36:48of the chronological history of African-Americans in this country. People don't realize that policing
00:36:54started with catching fleeing slaves. And so unfortunately, there is that underpinning,
00:37:01but we know there's good policing. We know there are good police leaders. I work with them all the time.
00:37:06So I would encourage the community that you meet with the police. And some people say,
00:37:11I'm a citizen. No, you can meet with the leadership of your police, a department. Find out what would
00:37:20provoke incidences that would cause some unfortunate incident in your neighborhood. Find out how
00:37:28collaborations can be established. Encourage them to visit communities, to meet with the younger
00:37:35generation of the community, not in time of crisis and crime, but in time of where we can work together.
00:37:40So we should not ignore police departments. Police departments should know the black community.
00:37:46We should know them. There should be this respect. And there should be this understanding that we
00:37:53have lives. We have families. We have loved ones. Michael Brown should have gone on to college,
00:37:58played football, and many others. Trayvon Martin would have been in his 20s. Tamir Rice could have
00:38:05graduated from high school, I think, this very year. This should not go ignored.
00:38:09So what you can do is advocate both in your local jurisdictions at city councils and county
00:38:15commissioners, advocate on the state level. While we are marching toward victory with this
00:38:20legislation, let it not be the last. But as we do it federally, make sure your state legislatures
00:38:25are not being reckless and ignoring that they can fix state laws and they can create opportunities
00:38:33for reimagining. They can give funding to community groups. They can show respect and decency.
00:38:39And that's what we should all have, respect and decency, mutual respect. And it is a question
00:38:45of whether or not we as African Americans are the true holders of the Constitution and that
00:38:52Bill of Rights, which gives us the right to access and movement, due process, the right to not be viewed
00:39:00as a descendant of slaves, because slavery is over in the United States. It is part of our history,
00:39:09but we should have dignity and respect. So demand that. Meet with them. Continue this dialogue and help
00:39:19change laws in the local area and in the state area as we fight federally. Finally, let me say,
00:39:26we need you on the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, which really responds to Breonna's tragedy
00:39:32with the no knocks. So encourage everyone that the next action for this legislation is in the United
00:39:43States Senate. And we must have action that responds to the pain of those who still mourn. Finally,
00:39:50we cannot continue to have situations where it is conspicuous and obvious and there's video
00:39:56and no one that happens to be wearing a uniform is convicted. We're not asking for
00:40:03any mass undermining of those who protect and serve. We're just asking that police misconduct,
00:40:11bad behavior, which is included in this legislation, that you can't have bad behavior in one department as
00:40:17a police officer, and then just go over and work in another police department if you're fired.
00:40:23I think two of the officers with Breonna Taylor were fired. Are they now working somewhere else?
00:40:28That's what the community can do as it relates to ensuring that there is this body of people that
00:40:36protect and serve and that there is this mutual respect and dignity. Fantastic. Congresswoman
00:40:44Sheila Jackson-Lee, thank you so much for joining us and thank you so much for the fight that you're
00:40:52carrying on on behalf of the community. We thank you and appreciate you.
00:40:56You're very kind. As I close and thank you, let me acknowledge Breonna Taylor's family that we
00:41:02continue to mourn with them and love them and continue to fight for their final ascending to
00:41:09justice for their beloved daughter and their beloved relative. And as well, I think it's important to
00:41:16note that the case against her boyfriend has been dropped by a court. And finally,
00:41:21I want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus for its steadfast commitment to criminal justice reform
00:41:27and just plain justice. Excellent. Thank you so much. Thank you.
00:41:32As Essence conducts this important conversation, we could not move forward without getting the Gen Z
00:41:42perspective. Here are two voices that we are so excited to share how this generation is using their
00:41:49social platforms to really amplify the unrest and discuss that we really feel about Breonna Taylor's
00:41:56death. So I want to welcome viral activist Kyasia known for speaking her truth to power in important
00:42:03moments and Nepal, an activist and also Miss Liberia USA. I am Charisma Deberry and I am the social media
00:42:11director here at Essence. So welcome ladies and thank you for joining us. I'm so excited to be here.
00:42:18Thank you so much for having me. Hi, Kyasia. Hi, Nepal. I'm Kyasia. And, you know, I'm always grateful to
00:42:24come and be in community with other Black women. So I'm excited to be here. I love it. And again,
00:42:30that's why we're here today to just uplift and amplify Breonna Taylor's story and her voice.
00:42:37I really want to talk about what it feels like to revisit this case one year later since Breonna's
00:42:43tragic death. How have you used your voices to speak about the case and to speak out against other
00:42:51moments of social injustice? So I guess I'll start. So when I first heard about Breonna Taylor's case
00:43:01in March of 2020, I was absolutely devastated as a Black woman. I was petrified because of the nature
00:43:11of her death. Even in rest, we are not safe as Black people in this country. So to me, as a young Black
00:43:20woman in this country, I knew that I had to be a part of the fight and demanding justice for Breonna
00:43:27Taylor. So I took the streets. I've been organizing on the front lines and behind the scenes. I don't
00:43:33call it charges behind this case. And I'll do even more time because she's worth it. She's absolutely
00:43:39worth it. So yeah, that's how it's affected me and what I've been working on thus far.
00:43:44Thank you for that. Keyasia? I think it's just a testament to kind of how society views Black women
00:43:54in particular and how, like, no matter how many people demand justice for you, no matter how many
00:44:00shirts are made of you, no matter how many memes circulate of you, if the people in power aren't
00:44:05willing to, you know, allocate the proper justice to your case, then, you know, everything will fall short.
00:44:12And me personally, I champion to kind of reimagine what people think as justice because we as
00:44:19Americans, I guess we have been conditioned to believe that someone sitting behind bars is justice.
00:44:26To me, arresting her killers wouldn't have been justice. They would be behind bars, but the system
00:44:33will continue and the next week someone else will be murdered and the week after that. So I'm just
00:44:38trying to encourage my community to honestly evaluate and reimagine what justice looks like.
00:44:44To me, reparations is justice. The ending of gentrification is justice because what they
00:44:50won't admit in Louisville is that they're actively gentrifying the part of town that she was living
00:44:55on. And when police aim to gentrify or aim to help gentrify an area, they start to over-police that area
00:45:02and kind of help push black people out of the area. So there are so many other viable ways of
00:45:08attaining justice outside of arresting her killers, but I really do believe that we will eventually
00:45:16see justice. So that's what prompts me to stay in the streets because it's not easy work. It's kind of
00:45:22hard to see yourself in these victims and to have to imagine what your name would sound like in a hashtag.
00:45:28And like, imagine your family just like having to go through this process. So I always try to
00:45:35encourage people because we kind of get conditioned that like, oh, it's not my relative. So it's kind
00:45:40of not my issue. And with like jobs and capitalism, we really don't always have the proper time and
00:45:46attention to show up, but it could happen to any of us at any time, any day. It doesn't matter what
00:45:50neighborhood you live in. All it takes is one person to call the police and everything to go left.
00:45:55So I just kind of stay centered on that. And that encourages me to keep going.
00:45:59Just to quickly build off of what Kieger said, because it was incredibly important.
00:46:05And I believe in this as well. I don't believe that putting those officers that murdered Breonna
00:46:11Taylor is complete justice. What I do believe is that we have to dismantle and abolish the system of
00:46:19policing as we know it, because clearly it's not working, right? It's not working in the favor of
00:46:25black people, but we also know it was never designed to. It was designed to oppress us. It was designed
00:46:31to terrorize us. It was designed to murder us. Right. So I believe that I don't even think this is a
00:46:38radical idea. Just re-imagining what justice and what community safety looks like has to be a part of the
00:46:45conversations when we talk about what justice for black people looks like. Because that incident,
00:46:53like if these officers were to be put in jail, that is just an isolated incident of officers going to
00:46:59jail. But like Kieger said, that does nothing to change the system as a whole. That does nothing to
00:47:04dismantle. And when you talk about abolishing policing, as we know it, a lot of people think that
00:47:11abolition is such a scary word, but what abolition simply means is getting something, getting rid of
00:47:16something that does not work and replacing it with something that does. Yeah, that's, that's
00:47:22fantastic. And I have to say that I am extremely optimistic about our future, especially with young
00:47:29women like you using your voices to write, you know, to speak truth to power. Are you optimistic about
00:47:35your future? What do you feel like can be done to make it better? If not, I'm extremely optimistic.
00:47:43I've learned very quickly organizing and activating that if I run on hate alone, I'll burn out really
00:47:49quick and I'll just walk around hating white people all day. So I pretty much run on optimism. You know,
00:47:56I'm just here in Savannah and we're working on laying some groundwork out and steeping ourselves in
00:48:01mutual aid and helping our community before we ever attempt a direct action because how am I going to
00:48:06prompt my community to come out and they don't need to have lights on at their homes. So I run
00:48:11solely off of optimism and love and kindness and compassion for black people. I'll just, I just ride
00:48:18around like all day and I'll just look and like, I see hope, you know, I see youth who won't have to be in
00:48:25the streets hopefully 10 years from now. Um, so running on hate alone is the quickest way to burn
00:48:31out. It's the quickest way to convince yourself to not show up. Um, cause it's different when we,
00:48:37when people like hear about these protests on the news versus when you're in the moment and you're, you
00:48:42know, being attacked by police, it makes you, you know, not want to show up after the George Floyd
00:48:47protest. I was literally like seeking counseling for like just the, the tear gas, just watching people
00:48:54suffer like the fear in the moments and everything. It was absolutely horrendous, but you know, I run
00:49:00on optimism of like, you know, I could just see that one day I'm focused here in Savannah, but I could
00:49:06just see that one day where we just submit our notion for them to reallocate 50% of our police
00:49:13funds to education. And I could just feel like that optimism and hope that that gives me a loan. So
00:49:18I just honestly run off of that, that I don't, I don't operate off of hating the police. They,
00:49:22they know what they do. So that's that. That's fantastic. And I just want to tell
00:49:27you are wise beyond your years because that is so true. You cannot run off of hate alone.
00:49:33So definitely looking towards the future is such an important way to approach these incredibly tough
00:49:40issues. Yeah. Um, I definitely look forward to our future. I would not be doing this work if I
00:49:47didn't have any type of faith, hope or optimism. Um, and what important lessons that this movement
00:49:56has taught me thus far as that we're not just fighting to change our futures. We're fighting
00:50:01to change our present as well, because if we don't take a hold of our present, we won't have a shot at
00:50:06the future. And, you know, after I got out of jail, uh, for getting, I got arrested in Louisville,
00:50:13Kentucky, along with 86 other people. And we're known as the Louisville 87. Um, back in July of 2020,
00:50:20we had a nonviolent sit in on Daniel Cameron's lawn, who's a Kentucky attorney general. And,
00:50:25uh, what we all went through was absolutely traumatic. Like they starved us. They treated
00:50:31us less than human beings. They had us chained up the cages. They had black people. Um, and when,
00:50:37when there was no more space in the cages, they had us chained up to, they had black people on a whole
00:50:42row on a chain, looking like they just came up off of a slave ship. It was just absolutely
00:50:48traumatic to witness and go through all of that. But nonetheless, we had community and we had each
00:50:54other while we were going through that experience. And like so many of my friends and family members,
00:50:59when I got out of jail, they asked me, like, why are you still doing this? You know, there's been so
00:51:04many different times where you've almost lost your life on the front lines, or you've been arrested.
00:51:09Like now, you know, what keeps you going and what keeps me going every single day is my hope
00:51:15and my love for the people and recognizing that this fight is bigger than my individual body. And
00:51:21I knew what I signed up for when I committed to this movement at 12 years old, 12, 13 years old,
00:51:28you know, I started organizing. So, um, I just say all that to say this movement, the people,
00:51:36everything keeps me going every single day. And when I, every time I take the
00:51:39streets, like I am so, so inspired. And even as we're speaking, I'm looking at a ton of messages
00:51:44on my laptop because we are organizing for Breonna Taylor right now, because we will be taking the
00:51:50streets and shutting everything down in her name. That's amazing. And what are some of your biggest
00:51:57challenges that you're facing as young women trying to advance in the world right now?
00:52:01There's a lot to be faced because as black women, we really get it from every facet in society from
00:52:07like black men, from like other black women, from white men, from white women. So it's really a
00:52:13challenge on all sides. And it's like a war, like on all sides. Um, some of my most prominent
00:52:20challenges, um, is really just, it's not even, it's kind of hard to explain because it's not like
00:52:26it's something within myself that I can control. It's just really managing relationships and like
00:52:30how I show up. Um, cause I show up pretty unapologetically, but I've just really had to
00:52:36manage, um, my power and yield that and decide when a time and a place is, um, because I'm very
00:52:43contentious, um, especially towards politicians. I don't walk into rooms with them, you know,
00:52:49hopefully optimistic. I walk in with the assumption that they will try to dupe us and they will try to
00:52:54sell us out irregardless of how many black people is on the board. They don't exist to serve black
00:52:59people, even if they are black. So, um, I just kind of, I'm learning how to manage my power and,
00:53:06you know, just work with people because I was very contentious when I first started off. I was like,
00:53:11I don't want to talk to a politician. I don't even want to look at them. They're gonna, they're
00:53:15gonna call the police. And while that's typically true, um, it's just about, it's, it's always not
00:53:21about what you know, it's about who, you know, too. So if someone is willing to have a conversation
00:53:26and even listen about abolition or learn more, because as simple as it's taught here in the
00:53:31South, a lot of these white people don't know, like as, as obvious as the racial, uh, wealth gaps
00:53:38and disparities are in the city. There are people who live on Tybee Island and downtown who know a
00:53:43lick of black people never go outside of their neighborhoods and wouldn't have known otherwise had
00:53:49I've been the one to told them. So I'm just working on, you know, meeting various people,
00:53:55um, and just ensuring that everyone who is impacted has a seat at the table because so often in these
00:54:02conversations of abolition, honestly, inner city, black men hood, black men are the closest to these
00:54:08issues statistically than, than any of us police violence, incarceration, gun violence. So I'm just
00:54:14trying to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table, um, which it's, it's a challenge in and of itself.
00:54:19Um, so that's kind of my biggest challenge for the meantime is just, you know, my mouth and
00:54:24ensuring that everybody gets a seat at the table. I think what you said is so powerful because you,
00:54:32you are absolutely right. Black men are incredibly, uh, tied to all of the issues that everyone's
00:54:38fighting for, but that is what happened to Breonna Taylor, right? The initial suspect was a black man,
00:54:45but oftentimes it falls back in the laps of black women. And we often suffer the consequences right
00:54:51along with our black male counterparts, or even with black men suffering, um, some of these injustices,
00:54:58there are black women in their families generally that are also, you know, impacted by it. So we are,
00:55:04yeah, we're left behind. So like gun violence, the moms are left behind to bury their sons and fight for
00:55:12justice. And like, so at the end of the day, everything that impacts black men impacts black
00:55:17women even harder because we're left, we're the fallout. We're left behind to clean up and demand
00:55:23justice and seek justice and bury and arrange funeral arrangements. So it's, it's at the end of the day,
00:55:30like black women are like always the champions behind every issue because you know, if it impacts black
00:55:36men, um, it definitely will, but it'll impact us even more because like, I know so many moms that
00:55:41have like, have grandchildren that kind of are their children now because their sons died of gun violence
00:55:47or police violence. And it's just really like telling to America in this system here.
00:55:53Yeah, I would say to answer your question, the four things that come to mind are ageism, misogyny,
00:56:04uh, lack of protection and controlling my narrative as a young black woman who happens to be an activist
00:56:11and pageant queen and organizer. So I like, I wear so many different hats and, um, just to speak to the
00:56:18ages of misogyny and lack of protection first. Um, I don't believe that we have enough conversations
00:56:26surrounding the things that young black women, young black queer folks and trans folks and femis
00:56:32have to go through navigating these spaces. Um, the lack of protection, right? There are so many
00:56:39people around this world that would assume, Hey, you guys are activists and these are activist faces.
00:56:44Everyone is protected. We're all love and hugs and we all marching arm in arm. And it's not that all the
00:56:51time. It's not that. And black women are silenced. It's at so many different points in this movement.
00:56:59And black women endure so much abuse on behind closed doors. And we don't talk about that enough
00:57:05because a lot of people will say it is divisive if you bring it up. And I always challenge them with,
00:57:10it's not divisive for a survivor to come forward with their stories. What is divisive is having abusers
00:57:18in these spaces that continue to perpetuate this violence with no repercussions, no accountability.
00:57:26That's what's divisive. And that's what's violent. And I believe we really have to open up these spaces
00:57:31to have these necessary conversations about the protection of black women and black folks are part
00:57:36of the LGBTQ plus community in these spaces in order to continue to push this fight forward. Because
00:57:45when black women are free, everyone else is free. When black queer folks are free, everyone else is free.
00:57:52My freedom will not come at the expense of your oppression. We are all going to build ourselves
00:57:57up together. So I just believe that we really have to open up space and dialogue for this conversation
00:58:04in order to go forward. And in terms of controlling my narrative, that has been one of the most important
00:58:12things to me as a young black woman in this space. Because people love to put these stereotypes on
00:58:19activists and organizers. And we have to adhere to these respectability politics. And people view us
00:58:25like robots and these stoic figures. And it's like, I'm 20 years old. I'm a young black person. I'm in
00:58:32college. I go to Hampton University, the real HU. So it's like, I have period, period. So it's like,
00:58:43there are so many intersections of my identity that I embrace equally. And controlling my narrative
00:58:51is the most important thing to me. Because if you don't take a hold of your story, someone else is
00:58:57going to write it for you. Yes. Well, thank you so much for that. And I know that we are running out of
00:59:06our time here. But I certainly want to make sure that you guys can, you ladies can let people know
00:59:13how you got involved in politics. And what would you say is the first step to being an advocate or
00:59:19giving people advice on how they can best serve their community the way that you all have stood in
00:59:25the gap for yours? Well, I didn't choose activism. Activism chose me at 12 years old. Trayvon Martin's
00:59:36murder is what pushed me into this space. I organized asylum protests at my middle school,
00:59:42and the rest is her story. And I would give the advice I would give to young people and people in
00:59:50general that's interested in getting involved in this space. Come in with an open mind and open heart
00:59:56and open ears. Recognize that we are not perfect. We will always make mistakes. But what's important
01:00:02is holding ourselves accountable, learning from that and moving forward, organizing and always working
01:00:08within community. And lastly, there are so many different ways you could contribute to this
01:00:15movement and be an activist or an organizer. You don't have to live on the front lines and be there
01:00:2024 seven in order for your work to be valid. If you a chef, you could come down and bring us some food
01:00:26because we get hungry on the front lines. If you sing, you can come sing at protests because that keeps
01:00:31people invigorated. If you dance, dance. If you are an educator, build up that next generation of
01:00:37leaders. If you are in the medical field, be that voice that saves that Black mother on that bed
01:00:42that's saying, I'm in pain and no one is listening to her. There are just so many different ways you
01:00:48can show up in this movement. Just always be cognizant of the others around you and work in community.
01:00:54Awesome. Can you repeat the question again? I'm sorry. Yes. I was just wondering if you had any tips for
01:01:00someone who wants to follow in your young footsteps. You have people who want to follow in your footsteps and
01:01:06become activists and learn how to speak truth to power the same way that you have. Do you have any
01:01:11tips you can provide? Yeah, it's just showing up and just showing up unapologetically and as yourself.
01:01:18Pretty much I was the youngest activist in Kansas City and whether or not people valued my voice,
01:01:23I was going to speak. Whether or not I was talking to a wall, they were going to hear what I had to say.
01:01:28So just showing up unapologetically and showing up centered not on self, but on the people
01:01:34because, again, like you can't be fueled by hate. And even in this movement space, you know, we love our
01:01:41people. There are people who are flawed and who say and do harmful and offensive things. But nonetheless,
01:01:46we, you know, I stay centered on the people and just, yeah, just show up like that's really it. Like
01:01:53everyone wants like a secret, like what books do I read or, you know, who inspires you? Like the people
01:02:00inspire me. I refuse to be inspired by one particular activist or MLK or Malcolm X. Like,
01:02:07yes, they are inspirational people. But my love for the people inspires me, not figures. So we,
01:02:13as a community, we've kind of relied on paternalism or this idea that, you know, these figures make up
01:02:20all of us and we have to look up to them and uphold them. And, you know, it's always nice to be welcomed
01:02:25in a space. But, you know, I don't want to be uplifted and upheld because if something happens
01:02:30to me, then what? I want people to feel invigorated and empowered enough to show up for themselves. So
01:02:35really start in community. For the meantime, in between time, I'm not trying to be a politician.
01:02:40I'm trying to be a street politician. I'm trying to make sure that people are fed and taken care of
01:02:44and are aware of their plight. Because while we may not always have the most academic ways of saying
01:02:51things or like understanding it on a governmental level, we know what racism is and police violence
01:02:58and gentrification. So just showing up in your community and just always making people aware.
01:03:03So many people lead with the notion that, you know, if I post about it, then people will know about it.
01:03:09Go door to door. Let people know they're trying to they're trying to gentrify the west side of
01:03:14Savannah, Georgia. Here's here's the information. Here's how you can show up. Here's how you can help.
01:03:19So that's all the advice I have is just lead with love and just show up unapologetically. And,
01:03:24you know, it'll all work out. And if you don't believe that, like, look at me, because I was
01:03:29irrelevant October 26, 2020. Well, thank you both so much. And I just want to say her name so many
01:03:37times. Breonna Taylor, Breonna Taylor, Breonna Taylor. We will never forget what you did,
01:03:44what you did by changing the world. I hate that it had to be this way. And as you guys
01:03:49spoke about martyrism, we don't want any more martyrs in our community. And I know that with
01:03:54young women like both of you, Asia and Nepal, that we are in good hands, that coming up,
01:04:01we won't be seeing 20 years from now. We won't be talking about any more or any new Breonna Taylor's.
01:04:08We'll be talking about all of the changes that you both have made and your generation has made by
01:04:13standing up and using your voices. But I thank you so much for joining us here at Black Girl Magic
01:04:19headquarters. We are still saying her name. I want to let KJ say her name. Breonna Taylor. And I'm
01:04:27going to let Nepal say her name. Breonna Taylor. And Breonna Taylor, we love you. We love you.
01:04:34Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us. And as you can see, change will come if we continue to
01:04:40fight. As always, look to Essence to keep you informed and aware and have a good evening. And
01:04:47remember, say her name. Breonna Taylor, may you rest in power.
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