Missouri Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush was disheartened by the fact that some of her colleagues confused her with murdered EMT worker Breonna Taylor during orientation.
Bush, a Democrat, said she was “hurt” during introductory meetings for newly elected representatives on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, after she chose to wear a mask with the words “Breonna Taylor” stenciled across it.
“A few of my Republican colleagues have called me Breonna, assuming that’s my name,” she wrote on Twitter.
It’s Day One, so I’m wearing my “Breonna Taylor” mask.
A few of my Republican colleagues have called me Breonna, assuming that’s my name.
It hurts. But I’m glad they’ll come to know her name & story because of my presence here.
Breonna must be central to our work in Congress.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) November 13, 2020
This slight triggered Bush to post a video of herself from Washington explaining how disrespectful their actions were.
I am Breonna Taylor as far as I could be a Black woman murdered in my bed tonight. But I am not Breonna Taylor. She was murdered and still has not received the justice she deserves. pic.twitter.com/nL9S8M9quT
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) November 14, 2020
Taylor, of course, became an international cause célèbre when she was shot and killed after three Louisville cops burst into her home on a no-knock warrant at 1 a.m. on March 13, 2020.
Bush also elaborated on her thoughts in a video that was obtained by The New York Times.
“People have protested in the streets with this name, and it just saddens me that people in leadership, people that want to be in leadership, don’t know the struggles that are happening to Black people in this country,” she said. “And it’s just disheartening. And it was hurtful, absolutely hurtful. I didn’t hear it once, I didn’t hear it twice. I heard it several times. I’m being called, you know, Breonna Taylor today. But it’s OK because we’ll educate and we’ll make sure that people know who she is, what she stood for — that she was an award-winning EMT in her community, that she’s someone who deserves justice right now.”
