What it means to have Breonna Taylor’s name on my shirt: The Undefeated

Brittney Griner wants to talk more about basketball.

At a press conference earlier this month, the Phoenix Mercury star proposed a call to action for those covering the WNBA during its shortened 22-game season, which begins on Saturday.

“They don’t ask us enough about what’s happening in our communities, and I think it’s a shame,” said Griner, six-time All-Star. “Yes, we are here to play basketball. But basketball means nothing in a world where we cannot live. We cannot wake up and do what we want to do. Go for a run, go to the store to buy sweets, drive your car without fear of being stopped by mistake.

“I just want to challenge everyone to do more. Write the story that could be difficult. Take a risk. Ask a question that is difficult. Do not leave it in silence.

This season, Griner and any other player who takes the field will do so with an additional name on the back of their shirts: Breonna Taylor.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency technician, was shot dead at his home on March 13 by Louisville, Kentucky police officers who were executing a search warrant. None of the three officers involved in the shooting has been arrested or charged in the shooting.

Taylor’s death, along with the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, among others, have sparked a social justice movement across the country. The names of Floyd and Taylor, both murdered by police, have permeated the speech in many sports leagues. In the past few weeks, many athletes have used their platforms to raise awareness and demand justice for Taylor. As the WNBA, which has dedicated its season to social justice, prepares for its season, Griner wants to do the same.

“When you do something that is selfless and you are doing something for a real cause, that is greater than anything you can do on a basketball court or any praise you can get in your career,” Griner said.

Griner continued his message Friday in an interview with The Undefeated, where he talks about what it means to wear Taylor’s name on his shirt; conversations with her father, a former member of the police; and what social justice initiatives would you like to see come out of the bubble.

What does it mean to wear Breonna Taylor’s name on the back of her shirt this season?

It means a lot.

A black woman was shot dead by an officer from the subway police department … and nothing is being done. It was a trend on social media afterwards, I hate to say that, but I feel like a lot of people got into the trend of posting just to post but doing nothing about it. To use your name on my shirt, on my back, all season. I remember being asked if we wanted it to be a one-time game or an entire season, and I thought I wore mine on the back of my shirt throughout the season. Fortunately, I think that is what everyone is doing now.

Every step I take, every time I have a camera on my back, someone who lives under a rock who does not see or does not know that they will see it, will Google it, they ‘re going to investigate it. more people are aware of how unfair it is. Countless days have passed since something was done. We are still fighting for justice for her. As a black woman, I feel like we get the double effect. I say that as a woman who has already been discriminated against in society, and being a black woman because of that, for being doubly discriminated against. I’m tired of it. I am really tired of it.

What was your reaction upon learning of the Breonna Taylor case?

For me, every time a law enforcement officer was not doing his job, they are supposed to protect and serve first. I feel that many times the police feel that they are judges, juries and executioners. …

There were so many people that I could have stopped this. So many high-ranking officials who can do something about it to this day. Nothing is being done except the people who still say his name every day, and mention it every day. We are not going to stop.

Have you had conversations with your father about the state of law enforcement, and how have you dealt with this movement while you have family in law enforcement?

My dad and I have definitely talked before. I wanted to get into the police before basketball. If he wasn’t playing basketball, he would have been a law enforcement officer, a lifeguard, something he could protect or save someone’s life for. I was planning to go to high school, the army, the police. I was late for basketball. That was my way.

When I said I wanted to be a police officer when I was young, he said, ‘No, it’s not the same anymore, it’s not what it used to be. The time has changed. It is not a brotherhood. It is no longer as it used to be. I really didn’t want him to do that, he was against it.

I hate that my father thinks that, because my father was a very good cop. I remember waking up, watching him go out every day and waiting for him to come home knowing he was doing the right thing. I know you loved it and hate the fact that it has changed and that you have a bad vision about it. I hate that. But that’s where we are now. …

Being a law enforcement officer is very hard work. It is not for everyone. More needs to be put into it.

I don’t think the police need to be taken away. Let me say that now. I don’t want to take funds away from the police, I want to put more into it, honestly. They need more resources, they need longer academies. They need more psychological evaluations. A lot goes into it. Perhaps the funds should be allocated in a different way. That is a great argument on the other side. ‘Oh, they just want to take away funds from you.’ Listen to my argument, I don’t want to take away funds. There needs to be more, and focused on different areas.

Do you know someone who has been mistreated by the police or have you personally experienced it?

I have definitely had friends who have been subjected to illegal searches of their homes and cars or have been rudely spoken to by police officers.

I had an incident when I came to Phoenix. I was stopped by a police officer. He was wrong, he was accelerating, he wasn’t paying attention. When I stopped, I stopped in the HOV lane, which you are not supposed to do and I know, I panicked. I saw him behind me and stopped quickly. When he got to my window I was judged on my size and my voice. He thought I was a boy and was very rude. It could have escalated.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, we just talked about this, although years and years passed over how scared I was to sit in that car because she saw how irritated I was getting and didn’t want me to say anything. or allude to him that he was being aggressive and that the whole situation could have changed. She was teasing me about how she was treating me, calling me ‘friend’, ‘friend’ and ‘friend’. Finally she sees my ID, she looks at it and she looks at me, she looks at it again as if it were a lie and she looks back and says ‘ma’am’, and all her behavior changes. He could have been mistakenly considered a boy. I could have picked up my phone and then easily shot.

You could say, ‘Oh, maybe that’s overkill, Brittney.’ No, it is not a stretch. We see it every day. People enter someone’s house that they’re not even supposed to be in and they are shot and killed in their living room. It could have been that same person on the freeway, on the 35th side in Arizona. That scares. Every day I leave this house, they always accuse me unfairly of being a man and I can also accuse me unfairly of being aggressive, and that is a thought that my wife and I have to think about every day.

Did that interaction impact your perception of law enforcement?

I didn’t let that interaction have that kind of effect on me, but now I’m more aware. I have always been very respectful. My grandfather was a military man, my father was a military police officer, my godfather, a police officer. One of my dear friends, whom I call sister, is a state police officer in Austin, Texas. If they stop me, I’m always very “yes, ma’am”, “no, sir”. I am doing this, I am doing that, I am speaking to you because I know how anything can be misinterpreted. As long as I have communication and remain calm, things should be fine. I am the person that if I see a policeman three cars behind me on the Chick-fil-A line, I tell them what they ask, it is up to me. I’m still doing it to this day. I still thank you because there are still good cops here. We cannot say that all the police are bad. It’s like they say, ‘Oh well, there was a bad black person, so they’re all bad.’ That doesn’t make me better than them.

Before you were in the bubble, you were working to raise money for COVID-19 relief and social justice. Do you have plans for future efforts?

Yesterday I was talking to my wife about having to make sacrifices to protest, to protest peacefully. A long time you have to make the sacrifice of being arrested. There are people we need to make this happen, but we cannot forget them along the way. Those people who are still locked up, who receive false charges, even being discriminated against by the police department for leaving and protesting.

We’re talking about possibly starting a GoFundMe where the proceeds would go to people who can’t afford attorneys, who can’t afford the legal fees to fight their cases. There are many people who get caught in these cases, they cannot do anything about it, they cannot fight it. Now they have this record, now they have lost their job, they have children that they have to support. We are probably going to start that very soon. That is something that I am doing in the works that I want to do. There are so many people left behind or affected that we need change to happen.

Is there anything specific that you would like to see happen within the bubble regarding social justice?

I hope that at the end of the season the WNBA has taken the initiative to gather some panels within the bubble. Maybe it’s through Zoom, or maybe we can get a guest speaker to come in and distance themselves socially. It needs to be talked about, because I know that there are WNBA players who have been directly affected, either by watching or having someone close to them: they have a really good vision and some experiences that we can share, we can grow, we can learn. I cannot learn anything if you remain silent.

With the US team in California in 2016, Carmelo Anthony organized an event with different law enforcement officers. We just talked about experiences. We have perspectives on their side, they have perspectives on our side. It was really powerful. Maybe something like that could be organized and thought. Each WNBA team contacts local law enforcement so we can talk about our views and concerns, and we can also listen to their side and start a partnership or something. Something needs to be done, and I’d love to see that happen before the end of the bubble.

What is it like to be part of a league with players who have been a constant voice in the fight for social justice and social causes?

These are my sisters. We face each other every day, but it is also a brotherhood. To know that your co-worker, your teammate supports you and you are all part of the same goal, the same movement shows a lot about our league and how we can come together collectively. I am honored and proud to be part of this league and to be part of this moment with these women.