HCCC

February 10, 2021

Contact: info@monirafoundation.org

Hudson County Community College to Feature a Live Conversation with Breonna Taylor’s Mother in Tandem with Monira Foundation Exhibition

Tamika Palmer will speak at an online event that includes an exhibition tour and performance organized by Monira Foundation Curator and Executive Director Ysabel Pinyol Blasi.

JERSEY CITY, NJ – At 12pm on Thursday, February 18, 2021, Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will host Tamika Palmer, Breonna Taylor’s mother, in conversation with Dorothy Anderson, HCCC Assistant Professor of History, and Michelle Vitale, HCCC Director of Cultural Affairs.

The event will open and conclude with programming organized by Monira Foundation Curator and Executive Director Ysabel Pinyol Blasi: a performance by Jersey City Inaugural Poet Laureate Rashad Wright, and a virtual tour of the exhibition, “Azikiwe Mohammed: Tales Told from Fold Out Chairs, and Rashad Wright: in heaven’s wakanda,” which is presented in partnership with Monira Foundation in the HCCC’s Benjamin J. Dineen and Dennis C. Hull Gallery.

HCCC requests that members of the community participate by submitting questions they may have for Ms. Palmer by February 10, 2021 to mvitale@hccc.edu with the subject line “Breonna Taylor.” Those who wish to access the event featuring Ms. Palmer on February 18, 2021 may do so by registering at: https://tinyurl.com/HCCCTamikaPalmer.

Breonna Taylor became an icon for the Black Lives Matter movement when she was shot and killed by police in her Louisville, Kentucky home on March 13, 2020. The 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician was roused from her sleep when police, suspecting that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was storing drugs in her home, used a battering ram to execute a search warrant. No contraband was found.

The incident led to national protests. Taylor’s family settled a wrongful death civil suit, and the police officers involved were fired. Louisville passed Breonna’s Law, which bans “no knock” warrants and requires body cam use during searches. Many activists are calling for police reforms that address systemic racism on a national level.

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To learn more about Monira Foundation or to schedule an interview with Azikiwe Mohammed, Rashad Wright, or Ysabel Pinyol Blasi, please e-mail info@monirafoundation.org.

Visit the Monira Foundation website at: www.monirafoundation.org