Consider This from NPR - Breonna Taylor Was Killed By Police 1 Year Ago. What's Changed Since Then?

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

It's been one year since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her own apartment. In that year, Taylor's name has become a national symbol in the fight against racial injustice and police violence. But beyond the symbolism, many feel that actual progress has been disappointing.In Louisville, Taylor's death has made other young Black women reflect on their own safety. Reporter Jess Clark of member station WFPL spoke to Black high school students who say Taylor's death changed the way they look at police.Amid the national protests against police brutality and systemic racism, Kentucky State Rep. Attica Scott marched with her daughter. A year later and Scott has introduced legislation in Taylor's name that would ban no-knock search warrants, among other things. Scott spoke with NPR about what change she has seen in the last year.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org Last June, I went to Louisville, Kentucky to meet some of Breonna Taylor's closest friends and relatives. You never would think that her name would be added to a list. A hashtag. A hashtag, or, you know, now you write and say her name.

It's been one year since the 26-year-old was shot and killed by police in her own apartment. Breonna Taylor was an emergency room technician planning to go back to school to advance her career in medicine. The officers who killed her were executing a no-knock search warrant, looking for evidence of drug dealing that they never found. You just think like, how? Like, why is she even part of that? How does this happen? These are Taylor's aunts, Tahasha Holloway and Bianca Austin. And in a sense, we're grateful that her name is where she should be, you know, unfortunately, in this situation.

But, you know, we don't want this at all. We want her back. Do you think something good will come of this? I hope so. I'm praying to God. I said, we need real change in America. Because it's scary. It's like, I got to still raise a little black boy

here in this world we live in. Yeah. Anybody. Nobody's scary. I've got to still raise a little black boy here in this world we live in. Anybody. Nobody's safe. If this can happen to Breonna, it can happen to anybody. Consider this. One year since her death, Breonna Taylor's name has become a national symbol in the fight against racial injustice and police violence. But beyond this symbolism, many feel that actual progress has been disappointing. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. It's Friday, March 12th. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees.

Download the WISE app today or visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply. Support for NPR and the following message come from Carnegie Corporation of New York, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. More information at carnegie.org. Hey, y'all, I'm Sam Sanders, host of It's Been a Minute. There is a lot going on in the world. So on my show, my guest and I make sense of the news and culture through conversation. It feels like we're living in three movies at once. That's a good way to put it. It feels like we're living in three movies at once. That's a good way to put it. It feels like a Mike Judge movie. It feels like a Spike Lee movie. And it feels like a Michael Bay movie.

Every Tuesday and Friday, listen and subscribe now to It's Been a Minute from NPR. It's Consider This from NPR. Skylar Wooden was a junior at Central High School in Louisville when she heard about Breonna Taylor's death. I just feel like we know so many Breonna's. Wooden says she found some of Breonna Taylor's old tweets and started scrolling through. Just the music she listened to, the way she interacted with people, it was just all so reminiscent of the people who I was walking the halls with every day. She was a normal person. I kept saying like I could have passed her as I was walking down the street. That's Naboo Diallo. She and Wooden are friends and classmates. They say the death of Breonna Taylor, a young Black woman in their hometown, made them reflect on their own safety. Here's Wooden.

With Breonna Taylor, it instantly made me replay every interaction I've ever had with the police in Louisville. Breonna Taylor's death changed the way they look at police. Diallo had been nervous around cops before, but says it got worse after the shooting. Last June, Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher put the city under a curfew as protests grew, but Diallo's dad works late. So he had to come pick us up, and on our way home, we got pulled over, and I was, like, shaking the whole time.

Diallo says the officer was polite. He told them it was past curfew and they had to go home. But she was thinking of Breonna Taylor, and she was terrified. It just makes me feel like no matter what I do, like even if I'm in the comfort of my own house, I'm just minding my business. Like I'm not safe from being killed. Diallo and Wooden spoke with WFPL reporter Jess Clark, who takes the story from here.

One thing that makes Breonna Taylor's death so disturbing to Black teenage girls and young women in Louisville is that it forces them to grapple with the idea that their future is uncertain. Breonna Taylor had a scrapbook in high school. On one page, she wrote that she wanted to be the first in her family to graduate on time. And she did it. She got a good job. She was saving up for a house. She did the thing society says will propel young Black women into the American dream. But it didn't save her. She didn't see this coming, you know, her way. She didn't see her death happening. That's Jolene Gemma, a junior at Doss High School in Louisville. Jimma is super involved at school. She's the president of the Doss Black Student Union and

wants to go to Howard University. Like Breonna Taylor, she has plans. Going to college, making sure that I make it to Howard. And it's so scary because these goals that I set for myself, I don't know if I'll be able to reach them. For Gemma, the other scary part is the lack of justice the legal system delivered to Breonna Taylor. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron recommended charges against just one officer for shooting not into Taylor's apartment, but a neighbor's, a white family. Gemma was in a virtual social studies class when her teacher told them the news. I asked, you know, is there a way that it could be reversed? Is there a way that they could

take that back? Because that's not it. That's not it. The case has inspired Gemma to think about a career in law, to make the justice system more just. Gemma will be a senior next year. Wooden is finishing her senior year. She wants to be a filmmaker, and she's looking at a university in Florida. I just need a break from like the tensions in Louisville. Wooden is saving up for college, working at a hamburger joint. Every time an officer comes in, it's just like, I don't know, it's just this weird like energy. For Diallo, Wooden's friend at Central High School, Breonna Taylor's death reignited her drive to fight racism

after a couple years of feeling worn out. Hearing about killing after killing had started to make her feel tired and then numb. Breonna Taylor was so close to home, she couldn't ignore it. It kind of rewrited my focus. It kind of made me passionate to talk about that stuff again. Diallo worries people are losing interest in the movement for Black lives.

She doesn't want it to be a fad. And she wants people to remember what happened to Breonna Taylor. It was a life. Like, she's not a symbol. Like, she was a person. And now, Diallo says, that person is gone. WFPL reporter Jess Clark. Breonna Taylor's death fed a national wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

And in the middle of those protests, Kentucky State Representative Attica Scott marched with her daughter. I met Scott at her backyard in Louisville back in June, and she told me those marches were about more than just physical safety. There's the violence, of course, that people are protesting against from police and the people who are supposed to protect and serve us. There are also the inequities that we experience every single day. And all of that is enough. On this anniversary, I called Representative Scott back.

She has introduced legislation in Breonna Taylor's name. It would ban no-knock search warrants, among other things. And I asked Scott about how much has changed in the last year. Just this week, we were able to present Breonna's law to the Judiciary Committee, so that was extremely important to bring Breonna into the room and her story and this policy movement that we're working on. And then as we get to Saturday, March 13th, where there's a whole day of activities planned, I look into the eyes of my friends who are organizing many of those activities, and I see the weariness in their eyes, but also the hopefulness that's in their gait, that's

in their bounce when they walk. So it's heavy, and there still remains hope. There is also a Republican version of this legislation that does not go quite as far as your bill, and Republicans control Kentucky's state government. Do you think something is going to get done on the legislative front? Yes. So when we had the hearing in judiciary, we heard both bills. Our bill, House Bill 21, the People's Breonna's Law, was heard for discussion only. Senate Bill 4, which is to restrict the use of certain no-knock warrants

in certain situations, did pass the committee. And there was a commitment from the chair and vice chair of the committee to look at some of the amendments that we plan to propose that will pull some of what is in our bill into the bill that was passed. What are the differences and what's really important to you that be in there when this negotiation is done? House Bill 21 was created with a community and it included banning no-knock warrants. Senate Bill 4 restricts the use of no-knock warrants in certain situations. House Bill 21 mandated alcohol and drug testing of officers who are involved in deadly incidences like the murder of Breonna Taylor. Senate Bill 4 does not include that. Our bill, House Bill 21, was named after Breonna Taylor. It is called Breonna's Law for

Kentucky. Senate Bill 4 did not reference Breonna Taylor in any form or fashion. So those are just the high-level differences that have been really important for people as they wanted to know a little bit more about the difference between the two measures. Legislation is one way to look at what's changed. Another is accountability. No one involved in Breonna Taylor's death was charged with anything related to her death at all. A new chief of police took charge of the department in January. Do you see change on that front? Not yet. Justice has not been served. Folks on the front lines are very clear that they are continuing to call for all

of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor's murder to be fired, arrested, and charged for her murder. They have not wavered from those demands. What path forward do you see on that, given that a grand jury declined to indict them last year? Well, and members of that grand jury also spoke up immediately and said that they were not given all of the options that were available to them. And in fact, a couple of them filed papers to impeach Attorney General Daniel Cameron here in Kentucky. So there were some options, meaning like lesser charges or things like that. Yes, exactly. And more information about the case that was not granted to them. So they've spoken up. And just this week, I sent a letter to our new U.S. Attorney General,

Merrick Garland, asking him to fully investigate the murder of Breonna Taylor. We have to continue to push on those kinds of resources that exist for all of us across this country if we want to get justice. Now, when you and I met in Louisville last June, you told me that the protests were not just about Breonna Taylor. They were not just about police violence. You said they were about a more deep-seated racial inequity. Have you seen any changes on that front? It's been almost a year, and we have seen very little change in all of the economic and social dynamics that impact people across Louisville and across Kentucky, whether you live in the West End of Louisville, where I live,

that's predominantly Black. We haven't seen much change at all in the economic and social issues. I still wake up in the middle of the night to train horns. And I still have to leave my neighborhood. We talked about how there are quiet zones in the more wealthy white parts of Louisville, but there are not quiet zones as the train goes by in the middle of the night in the less wealthy black neighborhoods. Exactly. Where I live, there are no quiet zones. Kids who are supposed to be able to function the next day, even in their online classrooms, didn't get a good night's sleep because they were awakened in the middle of the night by trains.

That hasn't changed. And yet we still are very loud in our demands. We're very clear that we must address those issues that make it difficult for people to thrive. Black folks are tired of surviving. We want to thrive. And so these needs have to be met in order for that to be possible. One more way of looking at what has changed is representation. And the first time I interviewed you, I described you as the only black woman serving in the Kentucky state legislature. I understand that's no longer the case. That's correct, Ari. We now have two black women who are serving in the state legislature. You've doubled the number. Ari, that's what I ask for

people. When I was first elected, please double the number. And they did. So now Colonel Pamela Stevenson is the second black woman serving. And we also have Representative Neema Kulkarni, who is the only Indian immigrant ever elected to serve in state office. When you look beyond Louisville, beyond Kentucky, more broadly, can you talk about what you see as the ripples of Breonna Taylor's life and death across the country? It's been amazing. And Ari, I will say it's international. In 2020, I know I spoke to at least half a dozen international agencies that were interested in what was happening in Louisville, Kentucky, with Breonna Taylor and the movement for justice for her. And across the country, we've seen cities and states who are passing Breonna's laws or no-knock warrant legislation. So we see that policy movement that's happening across the

country. We also see people being very clear that the movement for Black Lives is about police accountability. And it's also about the issues that you and I talked about in June of 2020, that we have to address the economic and social needs of folks so that they can thrive. Kentucky State Representative Attica Scott. You're listening to Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.