I am lying here in the darkness with the covers over my head, brooding on the things in this world that derail and ravage me, and the king of them all is sorrow.
Uncertainty, the unresolved, that feels like a vise grip on my heart sometimes, thoughts looping and insides churning, tied in knots. The physicality of fear, because what else could it be when uncertainty so unravels us, is really quite literal when you’re experiencing it, as I have been of late. Yet I keep on.
But sorrow. That is the thing that lays me down, hollows me out, makes me useless and unable to move forward. The sorrow of Black mothers.
I like awake in the night and pray to God, love, universe, whoever or whatever is pulling the strings, to protect my beloveds, to protect all our beloveds, to keep them safe, let their hearts rest easy. Let them not meet trouble.
Because sorrow. Especially of Black mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, lovers, friends.
“I’m just trying to get home,” the young Black father, artist, and skateboarder told those Memphis cops who pulled him over "on suspicion of reckless driving"—well, was he or wasn't he? Couldn't they tell?? They beat the young man mercilessly, kicked and pepper sprayed and pummeled him, though he tried his best to comply, tried to deescalate things, even though he knew he hadn't been doing anything wrong. When he realized they meant to murder him, he tried to run, but they caught up to him, and battered him some more. Three days later he died in the hospital, and five of the cops involved were summarily fired, all of them happened to be Black. There has been little mention of the sixth cop who was out there brutalizing young Tyre Nichols. That cop wasn't fired, no need to wonder why, because that cop happens to be white.
Writer Jemele Hill pointed out that anyone who thinks this isn't about race because the five cops charged are Black is failing to grasp that police forces were founded on and continue to operate from a code of white supremacist violence, and non-white officers trained "under the boot of oppression" learn to carry that water. Also, as activist Bree Newsome Bass noted, "The white owner class is not policed or surveilled because the function of police is to maintain the race/class hierarchy." Don't forget, our nation's police forces evolved from Southern slave patrols. Does any of us truly think those cops would have beaten and brutalized a young white man in the same way?
Not gonna lie, this one has me by the throat, as George Floyd's murder did, as Breonna Taylor's and Philando Castile's murders did, and so many others whose innocent Black bodies were so savagely destroyed by the police state.
Rest in peace Tyre Nichols. Your mother said you were a good son. Your friends called you a beautiful soul. You were trying to be a good father. You did not deserve to die.
There is something wrong with the police in this country. If he was driving recklessly, then write him a ticket and move on. But to escalate this to the point of brutally murdering a young man is sick. What kind of people do things like this? The answer is obvious.......
ReplyDeleteFrom Tyre's photography website:
ReplyDelete"My name is Tyre D. Nichols. I am an aspiring photographer. Well I mostly do this stuff for fun but i enjoy it very much. Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way. It expresses me in ways i cannot write down for people. I take different types of photography, anywhere from action sports to rural photos, to bodies of water and my favorite ... landscape photography. My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what i am seeing through my eye and out through my lens. People have a story to tell why not capture it instead of doing the "norm" and writing it down or speaking it. I hope to one day let people see what i see and to hopefully admire my work based on the quality and ideals of my work. So on that note enjoy my page and let me know what you think."
and:
"A good photographer must love life more than photography itself."
- Joel Strasser
A beautiful soul. A good son. An artist. A father. He loved life. Grief upon grief spreading far and wide.
I don't know how people of color get through the day. I am angry, how much angrier are the people who bear the brunt of this? Policing as it is today can't be reformed, it's too corrupt at its very soul.
ReplyDeleteI am convinced that "reform" is not going to happen, that the whole state structure must be abolished and that everything, everything must be built anew.
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what to say. Everything is wrong. Everything.
ReplyDeleteAlso- it is no surprise that FINALLY, the officers who did such an unthinkable act were arrested and charged in a timely manner. Because they were...Black.
DeleteI am crying for that young man and his family. So far our police here do not beat people to death, they just use their " powers" to rape (and kill) young women !! Where is this world going?
ReplyDeleteI have no words to help. Terror, grief, horror, anger are the thoughts that come to mind. I wish for peace for all.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard about the sixth cop who is white and who is not mentioned or arrested. Where did you hear it?
ReplyDeleteKristin, I heard it reported on msnbc, that six cops pulled Tyre over, one of whom was white and you can also see that on the video that was released (not suggesting you watch it, it's traumatizing.) When Tyre ran, that White cop apparently stayed by the car as the others gave chase and he was heard to say "I hope they stomp him." Perhaps the rationale for not charging him is the fact that he wasn't part of the second even more brutal attack. I don't know. I just think it's suspect that he's not mentioned anywhere in the charges. We don't even know his name.
DeleteTyre’s father is also speaking out about this.
DeleteNo worries about me watching the video. I'm already tramatized just living in this country as a black woman.
ReplyDeleteI didn't hear that, but I did hear some other officers who weren't directly involved were being investigated. I think I heard that.
When I heard that five police officers were immediately fired, I was surprised, and then learned that they were black and I thought, it never fucking changes. Why? Why would you want to beat a young man to death? WHY!!!!!!!! I want to know why.
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking. When will this problem be taken seriously? When the police can no longer be trusted, we are all in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI believe they have now taken in Mr White Number Six. I wish I could help. You, them, that lovely young man. Anything. But I, too, feel helpless. The one mote of light in all of it is that the demonstrations, so far, are perfect for what is, I think, needed and that is voices raised.
ReplyDeleteHorrific. I couldn't even watch the video. The police force here in the UK is corrupt, and the stories we are hearing on a daily basis about male officers raping women etc. is sickening. I thought they were there to protect us all?
ReplyDelete