Imagine coming home from a long day of work. You do whatever it is that you do to unwind. Then, you get ready for bed. Everything is calm and quiet. Until you hear a loud bang that knocked your door down and the next minute, you hear gunshots and before you have enough time to react, you have been shot with six bullets. 

Unfortunately, on March 13, that’s what happened to Breonna Taylor, 27, in her apartment with her boyfriend by the Louisville Police Department who came into her home not only with the wrong no-knock arrest warrant. As police broke in, Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker went to her defense with his own firearm shooting at whoever busted through his own door without warning. As I recall, the Second Amendment states that citizen have a right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 

Wanton Endangerment

In September, two of the three Louisville cops who killed Breonna Taylor were not indicted or charged with anything. The only cop who was charged was Brett Hankinson and he was only charged for Wanton Endangerment who recklessly firing his weapon.

Crazy thing is, it wasn’t even for the bullets fired toward Breonna Taylor’s home. It was for firing into her pregnant neighbor’s apartment walls. Not actually charged for taking a Black woman’s life firing six bullets piercing into her chest, lung, arm and foot, including one that is a pulmonary artery connected to her heart, according to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office report. 

Now, some people feel as if Breonna Taylor’s murder was completely justified because her ex-boyfriend was “involved in selling drugs.”  Neither is the case. Some closed-minded people just can’t wrap their minds around the fact that an innocent 27-year-old black woman was wrongfully killed in her own home. 

I Am A Target Everyday

As a black woman in America, I feel as though I am a target everyday. Simply because of the color of my skin. I took this case extremely hard because I can imagine it being one of my own sisters. 

Growing up, my first bullying experience was in the first grade. I was the only Black girl in my class and I was always getting bullied because I was darker than everybody else. I would get called names and some kids would even physically harm me. I was only six years old. 

I am fighting for Breonna the same way I would have wanted someone to fight for me when I was younger. 

Black Women are often among the most unprotected group of women on the planet. I took Breonna Taylor’s death so close to heart as if she had been my own sister. 

An “Accident”

It hurts me even more to know a grand jury has now ruled her death an “accident.” 

Following the grand jury report, angry protestors, disappointed protestors, protestors of every kind marched in Breonna Taylor’s name. We are now demanding that Kentucky Attorney Daniel Cameron release all body cam footage from that night along with all of the recordings of what happened in the courtroom with the grand jury. 

What Now?

So what do we do now? Now, we march in the name of Breonna Taylor. Not only Breonna Taylor, but many others killed by police brutality. We start by having hard conversations with family members and friends to tell her story more and more. 

We sign petitions to get the killers of Breonna Taylor — Louisville police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankinson and Myles Cosgrove — arrested. 

We keep saying her name, along with many others who are victims of police brutality who deserve justice. 

Breonna Taylor and Breonna Taylor’s family did not deserve this pain. Her story needs to be told and never forgotten. BREONNA TAYLOR! BREONNA TAYLOR! BREONNA TAYLOR!