On Aug. 14, actress Lauren E. Banks boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Louisville exactly one month after being arrested in the Kentucky city while protesting the murder of Breonna Taylor.
Banks, who stars as a lawyer on Showtime’s City on a Hill opposite Aldis Hodge (who plays her ADA husband), was among the 87 protesters — now known as the Louisville 87 — handcuffed on the lawn of state Attorney General Daniel Cameron during a march held by social justice organization Until Freedom. Also in the group: Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams and Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills.
Taylor, 26, was in bed on March 13 when Louisville Metro Police Department officers accessed her home through a “no-knock” warrant and fired multiple rounds, killing her. The officers have yet to face charges, and her death inspired widespread protests and a renewed #SayHerName movement.
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Like so many, Banks felt called to action following the murders of Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery in a way that was reminiscent of her time as a sophomore at Howard University in 2012 when she protested the murder of Travyon Martin. “Travyon opened my mind to the ways in which policing and law enforcement failed the public and public safety,” she explains. “I understand that bad actors exist, but I didn’t understand how the people there to protect the innocent were not protecting Travyon and his family and instead protecting his assailant [George Zimmerman]. That led me to begin organizing with people on campus and with my fellow artists to shed light on what happened.”
Seeing a woman like Taylor lose her life only strengthened her resolve. “It’s not the kind of thing that nationally we are taught to stand up for — we are not taught to get upset or take to the streets when a Black woman is killed.”
Though the Louisville 87 each initially got charged with a felony, calls were successful to have those charges dropped. Banks is still due back in court in October to face trespassing and disorderly conduct charges, but the purpose of her latest trip was to continue efforts with Until Freedom by providing relief for people still protesting on the ground. That work includes handing out 500 meals per week, a back-to-school drive, and helping to ramp up a version of an arts and activism camp Banks did in North Carolina back in the day.
“We’re encouraging people to come back and protest and get in ‘good trouble’ on behalf of Breonna Taylor,” explains Banks, who adds she will be there many times throughout the month and onward. “I’m steadfast with others from around the country and the world in seeing justice for Breonna. We will continue to say her name every chance we get. I’m a radical optimist, so I do believe justice will be served and I look forward to it.”
As for what she took from her day job to inform real life, Banks says “it’s enlightening to the continuum,” adding that what City on a Hill does is “highlights that full-circle, all-hands-on-deck participation” that makes real change possible. “Art imitates life, life imitates art.”
A version of this story first appeared in the Aug. 19 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
