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Tyre Nichols should still be alive  

Tyre Nichols was the father of a 4-year-old son. He loved skateboarding and taking photos of sunsets, but most of all he loved his mom. He loved her so much that he had her name tattooed on his arm. He was 29 years old and had an easy smile. These were all things I knew before learning the horrific details of his death.

This past week was the first time in my memory that a lot of the national conversation focused on the humanity of a person killed by police. From calls to not watch videos of the brutal beating and pushes to uplift videos of him living his best life instead, it felt like we were collectively working to break the cycle that seeks to dehumanize victims of police violence.

The peaceful rallies and mourning across the country this past weekend stood in contrast to nationwide protests against police brutality in the summer of 2020. At the end of one weekend demonstration in St. Paul, Minnesota, protesters chanted, “We have nothing to lose but our chains,” Sahan Journal reports.

And in the days that followed the release of the videos, I saw news outlets using blurred stills in thumbnails and include content warnings. This was so viewers could make informed decisions about whether or not they wanted to engage with the content. Other outlets chose to describe what happened in the videos so readers could be informed without having to watch the videos themselves. The National Association of Black Journalists provided guidance not only for journalists but also their managers and newsrooms.

In death, Nichols has been granted the humanity denied to him by five Memphis police officers on the night of Jan. 7. On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris attended his funeral, and the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered his eulogy. 

And while they both called for justice and reform, no amount of justice or reform can adequately address the fact that there is now a 4-year-old boy without his father, a mother without her son, and a world without Tyre Nichols. —Alicia Ramirez

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Uplifting our Communities

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