“Lament as Protest for Breonna Taylor”

Annabeth Roeschley 9/23/20

Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName.
When we Say Her Name, we say Her Life Mattered.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we claim Black Lives Matter.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we demand No Justice, No Peace!
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we shout Defund the Police.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and our hearts break.
We say her name and our bodies break.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we cry, how many more names?
We say her name and we yearn for no more names.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we grieve the names of Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland, ____, ….
We say her name and we trace the legalized killings of Black people by the state for centuries.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we let the rage flow.
We say her name and we let the tears flow.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we witness the global uprisings her murder provoked.
We say her name and our righteous anger burns.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and our protest serves as counter-testimony to racist verdicts.
We say her name and we tell truth unapologetically.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we hear our ancestors.
We say her name and we whisper prayers for comfort.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we recommit to self care as an act of resistance. (Audre Lorde)
We say her name and we recommit to collective care as an act of survival.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we know that WE keep us safe.
We say her name and we dismantle systems that harm while creating new systems of accountability.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we seek reparations.
We say her name and we seek to heal.
Breonna Taylor. #SayHerName
We say her name and we say her name and we say her name…
Breonna, rest in power.