Tyre Nichols cried out for his mother as he was beaten by 5 men. 6’3” 145 pounds punched, kicked, stomped and mocked by over 1,000 pounds of people inflicting violence with impunity against his fragile body. Disgust, sheer emptiness is what i feel right now.
The outrage is justified. The action taken was swift. The response and transparency is encouraging. My wish is that this would be the last time we collectively have to feel this way, but if it isn’t, this is the level of outrage and response we should expect in any instance Of state sanctioned violence and brutality against blacks people.
There is a jarring feeling about knowing 5 black men did this to another Black man… but we’ve often told the world that the system of policing itself is the issue and not the race of those doing the policing.
My Heart hurts for our communities and for the Family of Tyre Nichols particularly- I hate that his life was stolen and that how the aftermath has been handled is now the example of How to “correctly” handle these situations. Situations that should never be situations.
Memphis police chief Cerelyn Davis, to her credit, has handled the situation as masterfully and with as much dignity as I’ve ever seen this handled.
As a Black Man, I’m so angry that not one of those men had the grace within them to protect this brother. And I’m torn because of the desire to see justice be swift in these instances but having only witnessed them being swift in instances where the killers shared the same hue as the victim. I just want justice to be swift always in these instances. Transparency always. True empathy always. The ability to put the people you serve before the politics. That’s all I want. That’s what we want. And we want police to stop fucking killing us!
Justice for Tyre Nichols, his family, and all communities impacted by state sanctioned systemic oppression!
