NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is joining rapper Common and others for a TV special calling for action following the death of Breonna Taylor.
Irving is producing “#SAYHERNAME: BREONNA TAYLOR,” which will debut Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on the PlayersTV digital and broadcast network.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was shot eight times in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 13 by plainclothes officers serving a narcotics search warrant without knocking at her apartment. No drugs were found. Louisville has seen weeks of protests over the shooting and demonstrators around the country have chanted Taylor’s name.
The broadcast will include specific calls for action, such as calls to the offices of city and state officials, voter registrations and social media posts bringing attention to Taylor’s case.
Irving, who has been vocal about social justice issues, says as society is calling attention to police brutality and systemic racism, it is “critical to magnify how these unjust behaviors and practices are directly impacting Black women.”
Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and journalist Jemele Hill are among the others appearing in the program.
PlayersTV launched in March on Samsung TV Plus as a way for athletes to create their own content. NBA stars Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony and Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. are among the group of owners.
