WASHINGTON, D.C. — In death, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT shot by Louisville police in her apartment in March has become one of the most visible symbols of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Her mother, Tamika Palmer, spoke to thousands on the National Mall.
"What we need is change and we are at a point where we can get that change, but we have to stand together. We have to vote," said Palmer.
Though a large organized group of Kentuckians did not travel to Washington for the Commitment March out of concern about the novel coronavirus, Kentucky State Representative Charles Booker and a few others did make the trip from the Commonwealth to show their support for Taylor, her family and the many other Black Americans killed by police.
Popular Louisville live streamer Maxwell Mitchell streamed segments of the march for people back home.
"Sometimes it's talked about, what will the end result of this movement look like,? My answer to that is I don't know. I will be doing this until my legs go out, until the lights go off, until my arm gives out, until I can't hold the stabilizer anymore," said Mitchell.
"We have to lift our voices together and say to America wake up. Wake up America. We can't stop. We cannot quit and we cannot be patient. Let's win together. Let's fight together. Let's transform our future. Breonna, I'm representing you right now," said Booker, who spoke at the march.
The march was a commemoration of the original 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
"Get Your Knee Off of Our Necks," served as the theme, a reference to the way George Floyd died in Minneapolis in police custody and a metaphorical nod to systemic racism.
"The cries for Breonna Taylor are cries for so many others throughout our history," said Booker.
"The reason why I came from Kentucky to D.C. is to say what happened to Breonna Taylor should never happen to anybody," said Garvin Hinds of Elizabethtown.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is still weighing if the officers who fatally shot Taylor should face criminal charges.