LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Breonna Taylor is being honored by the WNBA this season.
When the league resumes play in late-July, players will wear uniforms for the opening weekend of the season featuring Taylor's name. Warmup shirts for the WNBA this season will read "Black Lives Matter" on the front and "Say Her Name" on the back. And the phrase "Black Lives Matter" will also be displayed on courts where the teams will practice and play at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Taylor was shot and killed by police in March in her apartment off St. Andrews Church Road in south Louisville. Family attorney Lonita Baker said Las Vegas Aces star Angel McCoughtrey, who played at the University of Louisville, first reached out about the idea. Soon after that, Terri Jackson, the executive director of the WNBPA, started talking about how the league and its players could work to honor Taylor.
Proceeds from the sales of the jerseys this season will also benefit the Breonna Taylor Foundation. The league also plans to honor other women who have died in connection with police action or alleged racial violence, including Sandra Bland and Vanessa Guillen.
The WNBA announced "The Justice Movement" on Monday. A Social Justice Council is also being formed with players including Layshia Clarendon, Sydney Colson, Breanna Stewart, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, A'ja Wilson, Satou Sabally and others. The council will be advised by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza and Rock The Vote CEO Carolyn DeWitt and Black Girls Rock founder and CEO Beverly Bond.
The Social Justice Council plans to foster community conversations, virtual round tables, player-produced podcasts to address inequality, implicit bias and systemic racism that has targeted Black and brown communities.
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