Regarding the Memphis Police Officers killing of Mr. Tyre Nichols
January 28, 2023
It profoundly grieves my heart that in the city of my birth, the heinous murder of Mr. Tyre Nichols occurred by officers of the SCORPION unit of the Memphis Police Department. Once again, another mother is left to mourn the death of her son, and children left to mourn their father, at the hands of law enforcement. Tyre Nichols joins the list of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and litany of names whose deaths are yet another indictment of America’s entrenched culture of violence. The video of the torturous death of Mr. Nichols is evidence that America’s violent history, transmitted across generations via the nation’s ethos, moral nature, and way of life, too regularly terrorizes black and brown communities. The abuse of power and wanton disregard for the humanity of Mr. Nichols exhibited by those sworn to “protect and serve” regardless of race or ethnicity calls for radical policing reforms across the nation. We stand in solidarity with Tyre Nichols’ family, the city of Memphis, and all–American citizens protesting and advocating for safety and policing policy changes. Before the nation, every facet of individual and collective moral choice is “non-violence or non-existence.”
