Michael Shaw Mahoney remembers Breonna Taylor, murdered earlier this year by US police.
“Say her name! Breonna Taylor! Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” This chant has rung out in Louisville, Kentucky these past two weeks as marchers flood the streets of Breonna Taylor’s hometown. Breonna Taylor, a black woman and an EMT, was murdered in her bed by some trigger happy policemen this past March.
“Say her name! Breonna Taylor! Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” This chant has rung out in Louisville, Kentucky these past two weeks as marchers flood the streets of Breonna Taylor’s hometown. Breonna Taylor, a black woman and an EMT, was murdered in her bed by some trigger happy policemen this past March.
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Members of the Louisville Metro Police Department busted down her door and emptied shells into Breonna as she slept. Her boyfriend Kenneth Walker, roused by the break-in, had drawn his gun to defend Breonna, but the cops ended up missing him and killing a completely defenseless woman. She never had a chance. She lived in a predominantly black neighborhood, in a place where a No-Knock Warrant police tactic had become common. A drug dealer, already arrested 10 miles from Taylor and Walker’s apartment, once made a drug deal at that residence. But not anytime recently. That drug deal had absolutely nothing to do with Taylor and Walker.
The Breonna Taylor case got little attention in March of this year as Covid-19 spread like wildfire across America. When the world witnessed the horror of George Floyd’s suffocation in Minneapolis, Breonna’s case bobbed up and people in Louisville, and around the nation for that matter, began to take interest. Her murder was just as egregious as George Floyd’s, but there’s no video evidence of the travesty.
The Louisville policemen who killed Breonna Taylor did not turn on their video cams. Immediately after the drug bust that should never have happened, the police shooters interviewed Breonna’s mother to find out if her daughter had any enemies, if maybe she’d been fighting with her boyfriend recently. The police were already trying to cover their tracks with some bogus narrative.
The Louisville policemen who killed Breonna Taylor did not turn on their video cams. Immediately after the drug bust that should never have happened, the police shooters interviewed Breonna’s mother to find out if her daughter had any enemies, if maybe she’d been fighting with her boyfriend recently. The police were already trying to cover their tracks with some bogus narrative.
For the past two weeks the Black Lives Matter movement in Louisville, Kentucky has occupied Jefferson Square in the center of the city. The square is flanked by local government buildings and the Jefferson County Jail, where well over 50% of the detainees are black. The Louisville chapter of Black Lives Matter (BLM) wants police reform and immediate justice for Breonna Taylor. They are not alone in wanting the conviction of the police officers guilty of her murder.
Some claim this is simply a policing matter, a question of policy. Others contend Breonna’s case is a function of systemic racism in American policing. The police in Louisville do not bust down the doors of white residents and shoot white women in their sleep. That pretty much never happens. There’s plenty of illicit drug use and drugs activity in the East End of town, a place with a majority white population, but those extreme police measures are not used there. Of course they’re not.
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Like cities across America, Louisville has been the scene of rallies, protests, and protest marches. On Saturday, June 6, thousands gathered in Jefferson Square for a memorial service for Breonna. Thousands of balloons in blue and silver, Breonna’s favorite colors, were released at 6:00 pm to honor her memory. The Reverend Jesse Jackson was in town for the day. Pop stars like Beyonce tweeted their support. My sister Monica Mahoney, a local artist, made her own sign with a drawing of Breonna with the words “Rest In Power” emblazoned on it.
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For the past week I have gone down to Jefferson Square to show my support for Black Lives Matter. My son Lorenzo Miguel Mahoney has joined me for several marches and car caravans through the city. The marches have drawn a diverse crowd, both blacks and whites. But not so much young and old. The city’s black youth has been impressively represented, and young black people, some of them just teenagers, have led at the front or held the mic for chants, which include “Not all lives matter until black lives matter” and “You can’t stop the revolution.”
The first protests in the city were greeted by the police and the Kentucky National Guard with tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray balls. Dressed like faceless robocops with plexiglass shields, the security personnel pushed the protesters aside and fired on them indiscriminately. Occasionally the protesters, enraged and justifiably so, fought back.
In one incident on June 1, two police officers and two guardsmen crossed a parking lot on 26th Street and Broadway. The location is deep in the West End of Louisville, a predominantly black section of Louisville. Cassius Clay, the man we all know as Muhammad Ali, grew up there and went to Central High School, located a block north of Broadway. The four armed security personnel descended with menace on a barbecue joint owned and run by David “YaYa” McAtee. McAtee was a popular figure in the West End, a kind of father figure to the youth and a man who regularly gave free barbecue to the police. He was known as the BBQ Man.
In one incident on June 1, two police officers and two guardsmen crossed a parking lot on 26th Street and Broadway. The location is deep in the West End of Louisville, a predominantly black section of Louisville. Cassius Clay, the man we all know as Muhammad Ali, grew up there and went to Central High School, located a block north of Broadway. The four armed security personnel descended with menace on a barbecue joint owned and run by David “YaYa” McAtee. McAtee was a popular figure in the West End, a kind of father figure to the youth and a man who regularly gave free barbecue to the police. He was known as the BBQ Man.
A group of black teenagers fled a tent erected at the front of the BBQ place and sought shelter in McAtee’s place of business. McAtee came to the door, drew a gun, and fired two shots. There’s still some speculation about where McAtee aimed, in the air or at the four armed intruders. His shots did not hit anyone. A guardsman, however, put a bullet right through McAtee’s chest. The BBQ Man retreated into his business, dropped the gun, and found a place to fall and die.
A mural for David McAtee appeared in downtown Louisville the next day. Some say McAtee was dumb to draw a gun, others say he’s a martyr, another victim of the heavy-handed policing of blacks in a country that has descended into racial disharmony and open bigotry during the Trump presidency. McAtee’s name is also chanted in the marches, which with the exception of a few scuffles here and there have been peaceful this past week.
Last night, Lorenzo and I joined the march that set off from Jefferson Square. About 300 people, black and white, marched in the streets. Cars formed a wall in the front and back. For some it was a festive event, not much different from the huge Derby party that blocks Broadway each May in the city during the Kentucky Derby Festival. But of course even with the cars jockeying for position, with black youngsters hanging out of windows, the purpose of the marches has been clear: police brutality against black folks in the United States has to end. George Floyd’s horrific murder showed the world that things must change.
Last night, Lorenzo and I joined the march that set off from Jefferson Square. About 300 people, black and white, marched in the streets. Cars formed a wall in the front and back. For some it was a festive event, not much different from the huge Derby party that blocks Broadway each May in the city during the Kentucky Derby Festival. But of course even with the cars jockeying for position, with black youngsters hanging out of windows, the purpose of the marches has been clear: police brutality against black folks in the United States has to end. George Floyd’s horrific murder showed the world that things must change.
Nobody in the protests is ever going to forget the names of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee. We’re never going to forget the many examples of injustice perpetrated by the Louisville Metro Police. Many of our white leaders, including Mayor Fischer, are mealy-mouthed, middle class men in button down shirts. They talk a good game but do next to nothing. Wealthy and middle class liberals in the city talk about white fragility and bemoan micro-aggressions against blacks and other minorities. They are well-meaning but have been conspicuously absent in the local marches.
There are some us, children of the sixties, who came of age around the time of the punk era. We were influenced by Bob Marley, The Clash, The Specials, and sometimes even by Stiff Little Fingers, a highly political band from Belfast in Northern Ireland. To us this time feels like the Vietnam and Civil Rights protests of the sixties, maybe with less chemical inspiration and definitely less casual sex. As Henry Rollins of Black Flag once said, “Do not be dismayed, this is what Joe Strummer prepared you for.” But we are a minority. The Black Lives Matter movement in Louisville is a youth phenomenon.
We have been living a nightmare these past four years with the abomination that is Donald Trump. We hope the tide is turning. Those of us dedicated to smashing Trump and MAGA have been so disappointed on so many occasions in recent times that pessimism has become a disease as real and frustrating as Covid-19. Maybe this time will be different. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, and a host of others deserve our dedication to the struggle for real change. Fight the power.
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We have been living a nightmare these past four years with the abomination that is Donald Trump. We hope the tide is turning. Those of us dedicated to smashing Trump and MAGA have been so disappointed on so many occasions in recent times that pessimism has become a disease as real and frustrating as Covid-19. Maybe this time will be different. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, and a host of others deserve our dedication to the struggle for real change. Fight the power.
➽Michael Shaw Mahoney (MA Queen's University Belfast) is a school teacher from Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
