A friend read what I posted earlier, asked if I am safe, well. I am. I’ll ask his forgiveness for this statement: I think he knew I was well and recognized that we had been out of touch for a while and needed to reconnect. And we’ll meet soon. I am well. And thank you my friend.
These are my words tonight on the community forum:
The sign I was holding when all this happened was “Say Her Name #BLM”. The first time I held it a woman yelled something. It was a bit mumbled. I didn’t say anything back. I realized she had said “Breonna Taylor”. Later a man, a white man, held up his fist and yelled “Justice for Breonna”. They know. But others? They see the #BLM and get angry. A guy, I don’t know his name, he heard the first time I was threatened and yelled from across the street “Black Lives Matter”. I’ve met his mom too. He helped organize the protest on the Fellsway. He came and talked to me, said he didn’t understand why three words can make people so angry.So about Breonna, for those of you that don’t know. She was killed by the police in Louisville, Kentucky. Those of us who know the story are still waiting for justice. The police, acting on bad information, kicked in the door of her apartment with a “no knock” warrant. They were looking for a drug dealer. Their information gave them the wrong address. Her boyfriend, thinking that their home was being invaded, took his gun, shot at the invaders. No knock. He didn’t know it was the police. Somehow, Breonna, in bed, was shot multiple times and killed. Read that again. In bed, unarmed, shot to death. Had the boyfriend been killed, shooting at what he didn’t know were police, I could rationalize the death. A big mistake. But I can’t rationalize an unarmed person, in bed, being killed. She was killed on March 20. Four months ago. Four months ago. And? The investigation is “ongoing”. A Black woman was shot to death in her bed. Take out woman. Take out Black. Someone was shot to death in bed. Unarmed. No threat. And the investigation is “ongoing”.The sign said “Say her name #BLM”. I wrote it thinking of Sandra Bland. #blacklivesmatterboston did a protest about Trans Black woman being murdered. “Say her name” means many things. All have in common, stop killing innocent people for being who they are. A woman was unarmed, killed in her bed. And yet we still wait.Tomorrow I will write about who I am and why I do this. But tonight? Ask yourself. Is this right? And to that man who threatened me? I’ll be on the corner Monday. If saying #blacklivesmatter threatens you? Good.
#iwontbackdown
#restoredignity