Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor
March 13, 2021 marks one year since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by law enforcement officers in Louisville, Kentucky. Taylor, like so many other Black and brown people murdered at the hands of law enforcement, should still be alive. She had plans for the future: to buy a new car, to get a house, to go back to school, and to have children. However, instead of her family celebrating her bringing new life into the world, they have spent the last year mourning the child, sister and girlfriend brutally taken away from them. And to add to their pain, the officers that murdered her, have not been held accountable for her death. Though to be fair, very rarely do the victims of state violence get any justice at the hands of the state.
As Christians, we know how violent and unjust state forces can be. We literally worship a God who became human and died at the hands of the Roman empire. God via Jesus was viewed as enough of a threat to the empire’s status quo, that he (Jesus) was murdered. And yet too many Christians have forgotten that central part of the Gospel.
Too often Christians blame Jesus’ death on Jewish leadership while ignoring the key role Roman authorities played in Jesus’ death. Without Roman participation, Jesus would not have been killed period. By refusing to place blame squarely on the Roman authorities, Christians, especially but not only, white Christians can ignore the parallels between Jesus’ death, and the deaths of Black and brown people at the hands of the state.
By conveniently forgetting that we worship a God murdered by state authorities, Christians can support state violence against Black and brown people and still claim to be faithfully followers of God. They can ignore the fact that Jesus-who the Roman authorities decried as a criminal- is not any different from Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, or the hundreds of others killed by the state.
Too many Christians are quick to see God in the face of law enforcement officials who can do no wrong in their eyes, while ignoring the face of Jesus in those killed by police. You can’t fully embrace Jesus-while rejecting those murdered by the state.
So I am asking my Christians, especially those who never have to fear for their lives while encountering police, to make a direct connection between our murdered Savior and those killed by law enforcement. I am asking Christians to remember and honor the lives of Breonna Taylor and the hundreds of people just like her, whose lives were snuffed out by police. I am asking my fellow Christians to follow Jesus and advocate for justice and to yes, speak out against the current American empire.
Breonna Taylor should still be alive. George Floyd should still be alive. Atatiana Jefferson should be alive and so should the other victims of police brutality. But because they aren’t, it is our job to advocate for justice and to ensure that others aren’t added to the long list of #hashtags used to name and remember those murdered by police.
