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In typical Black girl fashion, I change my hair a lot. Sometimes it’s red, sometimes it’s blonde, and sometimes I let my 4C coils out for a breather. 

Last week, I was ready for another switch-up. I decided to style my hair (okay, it’s a wig, but it’s mine because I paid for it, right?) into a bob with a side part. I FaceTimed one of my friends later that day and looked at myself. My reflection reminded me of an image that I was seeing all over the news: a photo of Breonna Taylor. I instantly felt a slight pain in my chest. Seeing myself in her — seeing her in me. Seeing this resemblance was gut-wrenching.

Taylor was just a year older than I am. She had brown, beautiful skin and brown eyes similar to my own. When I saw this resemblance on my phone screen, reality became more clear — what happened to Taylor could have happened to me or to any other 20-something Black woman.

From her pictures, I saw a young woman who enjoyed her life like we all do everyday. She would wear cute outfits and pose with duck lips, enjoying her youth. Her life was vibrant. Her life was cut short.

A year ago Saturday, three officers charged into her apartment and killed her as she slept. I still remember how my heart ached as I heard this news. After an investigation that lasted hundreds of days, the verdict was finally reached almost six months ago. On September 23, no officers were charged for killing Taylor. Only one officer, Brett Hankinson, was charged with wanton endangerment, which ultimately valued the lives of Taylor’s uninjured neighbors over her own.  

No justice was served. Black women everywhere were disappointed but not surprised. Every single day, we are reminded that Black women are not valued or protected in the U.S., even as we protect everyone else. Taylor was an ER technician on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis. She risked her own health to save lives, but this justice system didn’t care about hers. 

Black women can be killed while innocently sleeping, and those within this unjust justice system will still find a way to justify these senseless killings.

We saw her face on T-shirts, magazines and billboards. People were trying to keep her name alive, only to be left with nothing.

Settling a civil lawsuit for $12 million is not equivalent to the worth of her precious life. Taylor deserved justice; her family deserved justice and peace.

Taylor should be alive today. She deserved more dressed-up nights on the town. She deserved more time to take cute selfies. She deserved more time to be a young Black woman, daughter and friend. More importantly, she deserved more time to be alive. She was robbed of all of that. 

We no longer see Taylor’s beautiful face. Her memory is all that we have.

I’m honored to see Taylor when I look in the mirror. I hope that when you see a Black woman, you see her too — and I hope you will strive to make the world better for women like her. 

Rest well Breonna, you will never be forgotten.

Charlene Masona

Magazine, Newspaper, and Online Journalism Graduate Student

Published on March 14, 2021 at 7:31 pm