On March 13th, 2020, in Louisville, Breonna Taylor’s life was stolen. Her voice never will be heard again; her dreams will not be fulfilled. She was taken from her friends and family. She was taken from all of us. Breonna Taylor was murdered. And her murder is unfortunately one of the many murders of Black women at the hands of the police.

Now, her friends, family, and the entire Black community are having to cope with the fact that justice will not be served; no one will be held accountable for her murder. Not a single officer is being held responsible for her death. ‘Wanton Endangerment,’ the crime with which only one of three involved officers is charged, only refers to his firing the bullets that went into the home of neighboring residents, not those that ended Breonna Taylor’s life. Never mind that Breonna Taylor’s residence was not even the residence in question.

Her death and the lack of criminal accountability perpetuate the intrinsic message that the lives of Black women are not worthwhile. Her murder, at the hands of those who vow to protect and serve, says to the world that Breonna’s life did not matter.

But we are here to loudly declare that her life did and still does matter. Breonna Taylor matters. Breonna was an Emergency Medical Technician. A helper, a healer. She signed up to care for people during their most painful moments. She devoted her life to saving the lives of others. More importantly, Breonna was a person. She would laugh, she would smile, she would dream, she would love, and she was loved by others. She is valuable. She matters.

AWARE-LA and WP4BL assert in solidarity with Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) that we will not let justice be stolen. If we are to truly be equal under the law, to live up to the ideals of this country, and to dismantle the systemic oppression of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), we need to demand accountability. We know that true justice would be for her to be alive. True justice would be for the police to stop killing Black bodies. But although we cannot undo Breonna’s senseless murder, we will not stay silent and let these horrific actions go unpunished.

Daniel Cameron’s refusal to charge Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove in connection with her death speaks loud and clear. It says to us that he does not care about Breonna, her family, or the people he was elected to serve. By deliberately ignoring our calls for due process and responsibility, he also says that our voices do not matter. The tears do not matter. Justice does not matter. The murder of Black folks does not matter.

We will continue to stand with Breonna’s family and SURJ Louisville to disrupt white supremacy and #SayHerName. Breonna’s legacy will continue to save lives; she will not have died in vain. We will never stop demanding disciplinary action for Hankison, Mattingly, and Cosgrove along with accountability from the Louisville police department. We refuse to stand by and watch Black mothers and fathers bury their murdered children. We are rising up to proclaim justice for Breonna Taylor who was lynched by the Louisville police. Until we can protect Black women, men, and children, by making sure a murder like this never happens again, we will continue to fight and bring attention to the white supremacist institutions and policies that Daniel Cameron is upholding.