This story is from the September 2020 issue of O, on stands August 11.
I have a collection of property ledgers from former plantations. Names, ages, and prices of people, listed along with cattle, shoes, wagons, and all other earthly possessions. The ledgers are framed in my library. When in need of fortification in times of crisis or challenge, and sometimes just to remind myself where I’ve come from, I read them aloud.
I feel a kinship. As a great-great-granddaughter of enslaved people, I know that in a different era my name would have been in someone’s ledger. Those ledgers come to mind when I see the names of Black women who were killed by police. Breonna Taylor and too many others like her. I see the names, I think of the ledgers, I feel the connection down the generations: the refusal to value Black women’s lives. And I feel a personal connection. Because I am these women.
These women are me.
As our nation confronts the abhorrent reality of police brutality against Black Americans, one thing is incumbent upon us all: to bear witness. With this month’s cover, we pay tribute to 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, fatally shot by police who stormed into her Louisville home on March 13. The image was created by self-trained 24-year-old digital artist Alexis Franklin. We asked her to take us through her process of capturing not just a likeness, but a soul. Below, Alexis shares her process, in her own words.—Oprah
"The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in 2016 hit me hard. I remember lying in my bed, tears streaming down my face, and just being...tired. Though I’m not proud of it, I began to guard myself. I quit paying such close attention to the news and the deaths. It hurt too much. But when Breonna Taylor was killed, I couldn’t even try to shut it out. I was uncontrollably angry and hurt. This time there was no shoving it down.
Working as a digital portrait artist, I reimagine an existing image and can quickly switch moods or colors. The original photo is one Breonna took herself and has been featured in the news many times. Looking at it, I see an innocence, simple but powerful. It was critical for me to retain that. And there was a sparkle in Breonna’s eyes—a young Black woman posing in her Louisville EMS shirt, happy to be alive. I started by sketching out the concept first using Procreate for the iPad. At this stage, I get familiar with the pose and figure out the colors—they’re my absolute favorite thing to play around with. Using Photoshop, I did a rough painting of Breonna, solidified my color choices, and, in the process of creating the final portrait, focused on the texture and details.
So many things were going through my mind—Breonna’s life, mostly, and how it ended so abruptly and unnecessarily. Every stroke was building a person: each eyelash, each wisp of hair, the shine on her lips, the highlight on her cheek. I had that season when I chose to shut down my feelings around the killing of unarmed Black people because I couldn’t take living day to day in such a state of awareness. Now I was as up close and personal as I could ever get to this woman and, consequently, to this very real problem. I felt a new level of determination and pressure to get it right, but I tried not to let that affect me. My greatest work happens when I simply enjoy it and let my hands do what they know how to do."
To continue the fight for Breonna Taylor, you can also:1) Sign the petitions.whitehouse.gov and Color of Change petitions to demand justice from officials. 2) Call Kentucky's attorney general, Louisville's mayor, and Louisville's interim police chief to demand the officers involved in Breonna's death are fired and charged with her killing. Visit UntilFreedom.com for guidance. 3) Donate to the Louisville Community Bail Fund to aid protesters fighting in Breonna's hometown. 4) Hashtag #SayHerName on social media—so no one forgets her: Breonna Taylor.
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