For Black History Month, you know what would be really cool? I’d love to see more cities preserving significant sites related to the Movement for Black Lives. Maybe city leaders across the country could follow Chicago’s recent example.
Chicago’s city council has granted landmark status to the apartment building where Emmett Till once lived, up until he was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Breonna Taylor’s life deserves to be remembered too. The tragedy of Emmett’s murder launched the 1960s civil rights era; Black Lives Matter activists continue to demand justice for people like Breonna. You might remember a Kentucky grand jury refused to bring murder charges against the Louisville police officers who shot her as she slept.
Here’s the thing that really gets me: that grand jury announced its decision exactly 65 years after Emmett Till’s murderers were acquitted in Mississippi.
Breonna’s memorial has since been moved to the Roots 101 African American Museum in downtown Louisville. If you’re in a position to support them, please consider donating to help the museum preserve Breonna’s memorial. If Mississippi can memorialize 51 sites connected to Emmett’s death, and Chicago can commit to protecting one building from being torn down, it should be comparatively easy to establish one permanent museum exhibit in Kentucky.