Name: Why Breonna Taylor became the 145th member of the WNBA bubble
Uploaded: 2021-06-23
Duration: 4 min 53 s
Description: WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike explains.

Why Breonna Taylor became the 145th member of the WNBA bubble

Conferences

Breonna Taylor's impact on the WNBA

Why Breonna Taylor became the 145th member of the WNBA bubble


let's dig into the social justice, peace. And there's one part of the film I want to ask you about, but I actually had to practice asking you because I kept, I kept getting emotional and welling up when I did. I mean that's the level of candor and tenderness. That is part of this film. Again, I can't recommend it enough, but I began referring it to my mind as 145 and I know that you know why? Because there was a very important character on the court in our hearts all the time, Brianna Taylor. And I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about the back story about her, her story, her community, say her name, and some of the very specific issues around black women and families came to be such a focal point for the, for the League this year. You know, I'll start with my personal journey. So over the summer of 2020, we all were understanding what was happening each day and it was sitting on our heart and this was a reckoning of some sort of sort of the sins of our country's past and what it implies and how we treat each other today. And I have seen the video of George Floyd, I saw the video of Ahmad are very and this was all happening, but I think especially as a black woman, you know, understanding the story of Brianna taylor, that was the instance that just hit different for me just because it was someone that you could look in the mirror and and you could relate to and see a young woman that was out there trying to better her life and exuded joy. You know an E. M. P. That was trying to help others. And I think deep down especially as women That touches us in a different way and I think as a league full of women and I love how you said 145 because I've never heard it presented that way that is in true essence what got us to play. It was realizing that as we were hearing these names unfortunately of a number of men, we didn't want the woman to get lost in that conversation because far too often that's what happens to women. You know, there are ways that we deal with biases in society. There's racial biases and there's also gender biases and you know, she's at the intersection of both of those things and we understand as women operating in this world, like we have those challenges to overcome. And I think that's why the W. N. B. A. Players made her are specific platform because we knew, you know, you were twice as twice as hard to get half as far, we had to be twice as loud to say her name so that she is, you know, got justice to the same way that we say other names and that's why we double down and all of us went through that experience over the summer, all of us got to know her and then as a collective where a group that knows how to mobilize and I always say when it comes to the W N. B. A, we're not new to this, we treated it okay because we were standing in solidarity wearing t shirts back in 2016 after Philando Castile happened in Minnesota and this was when the Minnesota lynx were in the finals and they wore T shirts that said change starts with us and incurred fine for doing so and so fast forward. Four years now we're at a different point in society with the heightened awareness and we're continuing the same methods of organization and mobilization that translated to a summer like no other of the W N. B. A. Using platforms to create change. I'll just lastly say that like no one knew that this season will turn into a tremendous change. We do it because I know it's the right thing to do wearing vote war not translated to raising a national profile. That could have arguably tipped the balance of power in our country. No one knew that what was gonna happen when we pulled up in more t shirts, but it just is a testament to the players. The 1 44 in support of also an additional one total 1 45 standing together and doing this whether or not they get the credit. And it was beautiful that as you see in our documentary, you know, the world put light on something that was hidden in plain sight. And that's a remarkable women of the W. N. B. A. But there were there would be no season without the platform of saying her name and Brianna taylor because it's all inherently tied, you know, because we are the exception and not the norm of success in our communities based on our representation. And that's why these women are driven for that.