KENOSHA — Time Magazine has named Kenosha native Porche Bennett-Bey as Guardian of the Year.
The news was announced online and in this year's Person of the Year issue.
This year's Guardians are individuals who "put themselves on the line to defend the ideals sacred to democracy," Time said in an article Friday.
The Guardian's were chosen after a wave of outrage broke out across the country over the deaths of Black people like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
Following those deaths, there was the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Police officers shot him in the back seven times, partially paralyzing him.
After the shooting, protests broke out, and eventually, President Donald Trump and President-election Joe Biden both visited the city.
While Biden was there, Bennett-Bey spoke about how he "needed to better understand the Black experience in her hometown. 'A lot of people won’t tell the truth,' she said without flinching. 'But I’m telling the truth.,'” Time magazine wrote.
Bennett-Bey held rallies and spoke out against racism in her community. She expressed her frustration with the fact that the officers who shot Blake were still free, and how this wasn't a one-time incident.
At a listening session with Biden, Bennet-Bey spoke about the frustrations of Kenosha’s Black community, from concerns about housing to jobs to Black residents feeling that they were targeted by police, Kenosha News reported Friday.
When Bennett-Bey found out she was being named one of this year's Guardian of the Year, she said she freaked out and dropped her phone, Kenosha News reports.
“Even though I was chosen, Kenosha was chosen because we all had to fight this fight together,” Bennett-Bey told Kenosha News. “It’s an honor, but this is Kenosha on the cover of Time.”
Bennet-Bey was listed as Guardian of the Year along with four other individuals. You can read the full article from Time Magazine here.
