This past Thursday was Breewayy Day. Breewayy (or the motherfuckin' freeway) was another of the names bestowed upon Injustice Square Park in downtown Louisville back during the long, hot summer of 2020. May 28th of that year was when the first of what would ultimately be well over a hundred consecutive days of protest began.
While all across this country, around the globe even, folks were protesting and saying George Floyd's name, here in Louisville it was "Say her name!" and "Breonna Taylor!" Not that we weren't saying George Floyd's name here but when the local police lie to get a warrant and then, unannounced, storm a woman's home and gun her down, you tend to focus more on the homegrown police brutality and racism.
Thursday made six years since the coverup attempt unraveled and the city rose up. Each year, veterans of that and other struggles gather again in Injustice Square to mark the anniversary, connect and be in community. Back in 2020, car caravans were a part of the protests, a way for folks who couldn't be out marching in the streets to participate, and this year's Breewayy Day led off with one from the West End to the square.
Bianca Austin, Breonna Taylor's aunt (above, left), along with The Families United organized the occasion. She spoke of how this year's gathering was about healing, both individually and as a community, more than anything else.
There was plenty else, the speeches and performances, the free food and haircuts, and even the memorial was back like it was 2020. At one point three cops wandered into the square and asked if they were making people uncomfortable, which the DJ answered with a song.
Six years later we still don't have no damn justice in this town, but we do have a community that continues to come together.
Hell, Fred Hampton Jr and some comrades from Chicago even came down to stand in solidarity.
The singing and dancing, art and remembrance may have come to a close, but it's all part of, as one speaker put it, "a movement, not a moment."
