Musicians for Breonna Taylor

 

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, of Jacob Blake’s shooting, following so many other tragic stories involving African-American men and women dying or being gravely injured at the hands of the police (see: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice…), the case of Breonna Taylor was still pending over 6 months after her tragic death. And it was particularly enraging: the young woman was fatally wounded in the middle of the night back on March 16th, when a raid took place at her Louisville home that the police mistakenly assumed housed her ex-boyfriend, who happened to be wanted by the armed forces. With no clear warnings, policemen shot at Breonna Taylor and her current boyfriend, killing her — in her bed.

Yesterday, on September 23rd, a State grand jury indicted only one of the 4 policemen involved in the shooting, Brett Hankison, although not for actually causing Taylor’s death, but merely for endangering the lives of her neighors. While this verdict would have been hard to swallow at any given time, it comes at a particularly critical point in the US social debate that is currently raging over police brutality and inherent racial bias within its ranks — while the countdown for the next presidential election plays in the background. An election which will clearly impact not only that debate, but many equally fundamental issues in contemporary America.

And artists are here to show their support. While revered figures like Oprah weighed in on the verdict, it is equally interesting — and important — to note that superstar musicians including Cardi B, Common or Alicia Keys did the same. And they are not alone in voicing their anger and disgust following this news: Mandy Moore, Kirk Franklin, Ella Mai (to name but a few) all immediately reacted, condemning the decision in no uncertain terms. Common was perhaps the most vocal of them all, posting several tweets including one that simply repeated a very simple message: #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor.

May that message be heard…