Magazine illustration

An illustration by Breonna Taylor will cover September’s Oprah magazine

July 31, 2020
Linda W. Vargas


An illustration made by a digital artist Alexis Franklin commemorating Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was murdered by Louisville police, will grace the next cover of Oprah Magazinethe September edition. The portrait will end two decades tradition to the magazine, which in the past has only featured Oprah Winfrey, the magazine’s namesake, on its covers.

Taylor’s murder is one that has deeply affected many black women, including Franklin, who told the magazine“I was angry and hurt beyond control. This time, there was no way to bring it down.

“So many things were going through my mind – Breonna’s life, mainly, and how it ended so abruptly and unnecessarily,†she said. “Each line built a person: each eyelash, each strand of hair, the shine of his lips, the reflection of his cheek.”

Taylor was killed by plainclothes officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department on March 13. The trio entered her house with a ram during a no hit raid investigating a pair of men who were selling drugs and using Taylor’s address for packages. No drugs were found in the house.

Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot after hearing individuals break into the flat as the couple slept. In return, officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove returned a number of shots, killing Taylor.

walker says Taylor struggled to breathe, coughing, for at least five minutes after she was shot, according to reports from the Louisville Mail Journal. She did not receive medical attention for more than 20 minutes.

Hankinson was fired on June 23, with the possibility of appeal, while Mattingly and Cosgrove are on administrative reassignment.

In his cover of the cover to comeOprah Magazine directs individuals to two petitions (Change.org and change color) and encouraging readers to call the Kentucky Attorney General, Mayor, Governor, and Louisville Metro Police Department’s Public Integrity Unit, to demand consequences for Taylor’s killers. The magazine also encourages readers to donate to the Louisville Community Bail Fund and to use #SayHerName in honor of Breonna, a hashtag to amplify the lives of black women who have been killed by racist police brutality, but whose stories are often ignored.

The September issue of Oprah Magazine will be available on August 11.