On August 13, over seventy community radio stations nationwide united to honor the life of Breonna Taylor and many other women who have fallen victim to police atrocities. The broadcast was made possible by a partnership between WXOX Louisville and Breonna Taylor’s family.
Breonna’s Aunt Bianca opened the 10 minute piece with a personal message to supporters. “On behalf of our family, we want to thank everyone for standing with us as we fight for justice for Breonna. Justice for Breonna means an end to police brutality and social injustice. We will not tolerate this any longer. The time is now,” said Austin.
The piece continued by playing Breonna’s favorite song, “Everything,” by Mary J. Blige. As the song concluded, sound bursts of Louisville protests filled the broadcast. They chanted, “Say her name! BREONNA TAYLOR!”
DJ Tia Coately ended the transmission by saying names of women who have suffered from police brutality. After saying Breonna’s name she acknowledged unknown victims, “and way too many more beautiful black women taken from this earth so tragically. Justice for them all.”
The station manager of WXOX, Sharon Scott, said she knew many community radio stations would participate in the event but was surprised to be get attention from the mainstream media.
“My mom, like, called me in tears because she was watching the NBC nightly news- and they mentioned our piece. That was really awesome, that the mainstream media was paying attention to what community radio was doing,” she said.
The story also got picked up by CNN, USA Today, The Hill, Inquisitor, Radio Ink, and Radio Survivor.
Scott said the greatest part was seeing everybody come together for a cause. She hopes community radio stations can continue to simulcast in the future.