Tamika Mallory responds to criticism over BreonnaCon
Tamika Mallory says the event has the support of Breonna Taylor's family
National social justice organization Until Freedom held BreonnaCon, a four day “massive demonstration throughout Louisville,” that ends Tuesday in an event billed “Good Trouble Tuesday.” Now co-founder Tamika Mallory is responding to Breonna Taylor supporters who are split over the event.
According to the Courier-Journal, the New York-based organization founded by Mallory and Linda Sarsour encouraged participants to take part in a series of demonstrations and workshops featuring several celebrities, activists, and influencers.
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Although the intention of the event is to keep Taylor’s name at the forefront of public consciousness, in a recent interview Mallory responded to those unsure about the decision to use the late EMT’s name to promote it.
“There were no internal issues within Until Freedom about using the name,” clarified Mallory. “Especially not when Tamika Palmer (Breonna’s mother) and her family members and her family attorneys were here working with us when the concepts were developed.”
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“When one of the younger organizers suggested ‘Bre-B-Q,’ her mom, with tears in her eyes looked at me and said Breonna would love Bre-B-Q, that would be really special,” she continued.
People seemed to be particularly put off by a workshop titled, “Beauty, Money and Justice!” featuring Love & Hip Hop’s Yandy Smith-Harris, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, and political strategist Tezlyn Figaro.
Mallory had a response to those critics.
“The history of organizing has been using creative tactics to bring people into movements. Many of the women who came out to the women’s empowerment event yesterday were individuals who said they had never been to any of the protests,” she said.
“The influencers were used as a hook to get them in, but when they got there they learned about Breonna’s Law. They learned about what it means when we say to defund the police.”
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