Two Down One To Go: Fight For Breonna Taylor

“If we do not fight as hard for Breonna Taylor as we do for George Floyd than what are we fighting for?”

Devon J Hall

Shortly after midnight on March 13, Louisville police, executing a search warrant, used a battering ram to crash into the apartment of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American emergency room technician. After a brief confrontation, they fired several shots, striking her at least eight times.

By NY Times

My name is Devon J Hall and I am a writer from Canada, but at any moment I could be Breonna Taylor, because I am a Black woman.

That’s it. That is the reason so many people die in this world, the color of their skin matters so much, that it signals danger to so many people. This is especially true of Police Officers.

Twice in my life I was arrested, the first time for having a panic attack on an airplane, (they thought I was a terrorist.) the second time because I am on outpatient care.

I was arrested the second time in my home by two officers who were told by a nurse that I was planning on leaving the Province. I was detained for three hours in the mental ward of Surrey Memorial Hospital, and then released as long as I promised not to leave the Province of British Columbia.

This all stems from the fact that during my panic attack I had memories of being raped by a gang when I was fifteen years old, when I told this to the Doctor after reporting these rapes to the Police I was “Certified Psychotic,” and put on Out patient care.

At any moment in time, I could be Breonna Taylor, if I am not careful I will be arrested by the Police again and at any time they can have me taken to the Mental Hospital.

This isn’t how it should be, not for me, not for any woman. In Breonna Taylor’s case, she was murdered in her own home by Police who were looking for a criminal.

According to The Louisville Courier Journal, the police were investigating two men who they believed were selling drugs out of a house that was far from Ms. Taylor’s home. But a judge had also signed a warrant allowing the police to search Ms. Taylor’s residence because the police said they believed that one of the two men had used her apartment to receive packages. The judge’s order was a so-called “no-knock” warrant, which allowed the police to enter without warning or without identifying themselves as law enforcement.

New York Times

Breonna Taylor died because cops broke into her house, and assumed she was the bad guy, they went into that apartment ready to kill, clearly.

So at what point is her life going to matter as much as George Floyd’s or Ahmaud Arbery? At what point are Celebrities going to come out and demand justice for her? When are people going to put the lives of Black Women as high as the lives of Black men?

Yes, you men recognize that any of you could be Eric Garner or George Floyd, but any one of us women could be Breonna Taylor, and what we’re learning here is that our lives as women, (Trans women included in this statement,) do not matter as much as the lives of the Black men around us.

George Floyd couldn’t breath, that was his last message to the world, Breonna Taylor never got the chance to leave a message. She died from eight gun shot wounds.

Eight.

Eight.

Eight.

Eight Fucking Bullets.

How many bullets does it take to kill a person?

She was unarmed, confused, probably terrified, and unsure of what was happening, I know that in that state, having been arrested in the middle of a panic attack I wasn’t very cooperative either. I was terrifed, I was absolutely afraid of the white cop calling me a little bitch while he spat in my face because he was screaming at the top of his lungs while I curled up against a glass wall begging for him to back off, so I could breath.

I remember saying “I can’t breath oh my god,” over and over again while his female partner said nothing, did nothing to intervene. At any point in time, I could have been Breonna Taylor.

Your daughters, nieces, cousins, aunts, mothers, sisters could be Breonna Taylor so when exactly is her life going to matter as much? I keep hearing about George Floyd and people are angry about him, and they should be, but what about the rest of us who can’t breath?

Everyone is celebrating because the murderers of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery are going to prison for a very long time we hope, but they are forgetting Breonna.

She was beautiful, smart, and kind, by all accounts loved by everyone who came in contact with her. She was a part of her community and she worked to help save lives as a Emergency Room Technician, and she had her life taken from her in the middle of the night by Cops who have been largely ignored in light of recent events.

Black women are and have been largely, the Black bone of society since the beginning of time, and Black women are always the first to be sacrificed for the sake of Black men.

It’s time to make Breonna Taylor’s life matter, not just for her, but for all of the little Black girls who are realizing that the color of their skin is seen as a weapon against the world.

Six years ago next month Eric Garner died, at the hands of Police who heard him say “I can’t breath,” and continued to choke the life out of him.

Many others have lost their lives, and all we’re asking for is for women to be as respected as men. I’d like to know where all the White women of the Women’s March are today. I’d like to know what they are trying to do to make Breonna Taylor’s life matter.

So…since they wont’ answer me, I’m asking you, what are you going to do?

Sending all my love,

Devon J Hall