(Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

March 13, 2021 / 1:51 PM

BET, the nation's leading provider of quality content for African American audiences, announces Remembering Breonna Taylor in remembrance of the life of the 26-year-old EMT who was shot and killed by Louisville police in her apartment during a flawed forced-entry raid. Remembering Breonna Taylor will celebrate Breonna’s life and mobilize communities to take action against this and all types of police violence.

BET’s activities in remembrance of will include robust news coverage, a video short to highlight the impact that she made in her too short 26 years, and the impact that her legacy continues to make.

Remembering Breonna Taylor will include appearances from Philanthropist Tina Knowles Lawson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, WNBA Star Natasha Cloud, Scholar Dr. Brittney Cooper, Author Candace Benbow, Kentucky ACLU Policy Strategist Keturah Herron, Until Freedom Co-Founder Tamika Mallory, and Activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham.

“As a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a medical worker who loved helping others, with dreams of becoming a mother herself, Breonna’s life mattered,” says Jeanine Liburd, Chief Communications and Social Impact Officer, BET. “At BET, we choose to honor Breonna’s legacy by making space for solutions-oriented dialogue that can impact meaningful change. We are so proud to have the opportunity to partner with so many voices making significant contributions to this conversation.”

According to the #SayHerName campaign from the African American Policy Forum, Black women as young as seven and as old as 93 have been injured, abused, and killed by police--but rarely are their names a part of the national consciousness about these injustices. The Washington Post has noted nearly 250 women have been shot and killed by police since the newspaper began tracking police-involved shootings in 2015, with a disproportionately high percentage of those--20%--being Black women. This staggering figure does not include the many Black women who have faced sexual assault, injury, and other forms of violence at the hands of police officers across America.

While there have been charges made against some of the officers involved, none of the charges levied by the Kentucky Attorney General included charges relating directly to Breonna’s death. The killing of Breonna Taylor sparked international protests, building on demonstrations following the killings of Ahmaud Arbery by vigilantes, and George Floyd by Minneapolis Police.

In support of ongoing efforts to end police violence once and for all, BET will invite viewers to take action in Breonna’s memory, through volunteering with and supporting national and local organizations that fight police brutality and racial injustice, including The Breonna Taylor Foundation, Until Freedom, the Movement For Black Lives, Black Lives Matter Louisville, the Louisville Urban League, and #SayHerName.

Efforts to end no-knock warrants have spread across America in Breonna’s memory, becoming municipal law in the city of Louisville due to the courageous advocacy of Breonna’s family, community activists, and advocacy organizations. BET remains committed to these efforts and stands in solidarity with organizations working at grassroots and systems levels to affect needed change.