Regina King and Uzo Aduba Wore Breonna Taylor Shirts to the Emmys 2020
Regina King and Uzo Aduba used their Emmys 2020 style choices to make a powerful statement: T-shirts with Breonna Taylor’s face on it.
Earlier this year Taylor was shot eight times by police officers after they forced their way into her home in the middle of the night. She was killed, and no one has been charged yet in her death. Taylor’s death was one of the inciting incidents of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, which has been particularly focused on police brutality.
King’s shirt prominently featured Taylor's face with the message “Say her name,” which has become a battle cry of sorts that urges the world not to forget Taylor—or any victims of police brutality.
King has worn the tee before, as seen in an Instagram post from earlier this year. “It’s been 150 days since Breonna Taylor was murdered in her sleep by Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove—and her killers have not been charged,” she wrote in the caption. “Too often Black women who die from police violence are forgotten. Let’s stay loud, keep demanding justice for Breonna and her family, and SAY HER NAME. This campaign and t-shirt was created by @phenomenal in partnership with the Breonna Taylor Foundation, to which all profits will be donated.”
The shirt is still available for purchase at phenomenalwoman.us for $45.
King took home the Emmy this year for outstanding lead actress in a limited series for her role in HBO’s Watchmen. In her speech she passionately urged people to vote in the 2020 presidential election.
“Got to vote,” she said. “I would be remiss not to mention that. Have a voting plan.” She also gave an emotional nod to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away on Friday (September 18), saying, “Rest in power.”
Justice for Breonna Taylor T-Shirt
$45.00, Phenomenal Woman
Regina King has been a longtime advocate for equality in Hollywood across the board. At the 2019 Golden Globes, she vowed to only produce projects where at least half the cast and crew are women.
“I’m going to use my platform right now to say: In the next two years, everything that I produce—I am making a vow and it’s going to be tough—to make sure that everything I produce is 50% women,” she said in her speech. “And I just challenge anyone out there who is in a position of power—not just in our industry, in all industries—I challenge you to challenge yourselves to stand with us in solidarity and do the same.”
Aduba also wore a shirt with Taylor’s name, which was on display as she won the Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie.
“Let’s go change the world,” she said as she accepted her award.
“The cops still haven’t been held accountable,” King said in the Emmys press room about why she wore the shirt. “She represents just decades, hundreds of years of violence of Black bodies.”
For more Emmys 2020 news, click here.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
