Imagine waiting 8, 467, 200 seconds for someone to prove your innocence. Imagine your family members having to wait 2,352 hours for you because your internal clock on earth has expired, therefore disqualifying you from seeking justice.
Since March 13, 2020, we as a people in America have been waiting for the equivalent of 99 days to determine if Louisville, Kentucky’s attorney general, Daniel Cameron, will file charges against the officers who fatally shot 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. Louisville Metro Police Department Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly continue to do their jobs with no repercussions. In what court of law is this type of behavior acceptable?
The insurmountable evidence that is public knowledge clearly shows negligence, deceit, and murder towards a Black woman who went to bed thinking she was safe while lying next to her boyfriend in the Springfield Drive community of Louisville, Kentucky. Breonna served as a certified EMT and worked two jobs to create a better opportunity for her future in Nursing.
How is it that a Black woman who helped save the lives of others, now must wait to have her life justified by the hands of a majority of white men? If this isn’t a clear representation of systemic racism rearing its ugly head in our modern world of law enforcement and the judicial system, we are all clearly blind. In the year 2020, some of our ancestors are rolling over in their graves, while others are reminding us to cling towards hope.
How can you stand to take an oath of office and refuse to practice and uphold the law? How can you sleep at night knowing an innocent life is taken? Even a little child knows the difference between right and wrong. Yet, we have grown men who are hiding behind titles and power of dominance to condemn a Black woman.
And so it is in life; as Black women, we often receive criticism and ridicule just for waking up out of bed with kinky hair and a determination for wanting more for ourselves. How dare we be educated. How dare we be the providers and breadwinners for our family. How dare we be the nurturers and comforters for those unable to see the beauty in themselves. How dare we be the sun, moon, and stars for Black men who are berated and considered useless in a country that depicts freedom yet continually reminds us of our chains.
I could speak with the eloquence of Queen Sheba or the frustration that is portrayed by the depiction of an angry Black woman; however, our voices seem to fall deaf to the ears of white men whose hearts fill with malice.
One peculiar notion is that even in death, Breonna Taylor is a powerful Black woman whose life is so valuable, that the Louisville Police Department is doing all they can to move slowly with the intent of not disclosing the truth. How long must America wait to see justice for Breonna Taylor?
If time is money, the government of Kentucky and the Louisville Police Department owe Breonna’s family $8, 467, 200 with interest, and the clock will continue to run until you honor the name, Breonna Taylor, by firing and convicting those officers who so quickly took her life.
