Day #28 of #RRBC’s #ADayInMyLife 30-Day #Blogging Challenge! Come on along! @NonnieJules @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #PoliceBrutality
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Hello, friends!
This is a piggy-back off of my post from Friday, 1/27/23. Wanda Fischer left the following comment which gave me the idea for today’s post:
Empty is what I feel, watching the news and the senseless death of Tyre Nichols. His empty call for his mother’s help. The emptiness of the senseless violence that ended his life. The emptiness that the families of the five police officers who committed this heinous crime must be feeling. Empty as I made my way through the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, attached to the Lorraine Motel, viewing the senseless violence perpetrated on citizens of this country by virtue of the color of their skin. The emptiness I felt when, in another part of Memphis, I stood in the hotel room once occupied by Martin Luther King, Jr., minutes before he died of senseless violence at the hands of an assassin’s bullet, as a recording of Marian Anderson’s version of “Precious Lord” played in the background. Emptiness last night as one of the commentators speaking of Tyre’s killing had a poster behind him from the garbage collectors’ march in Memphis in 1968, saying, “I am a MAN,” the plea for dignity and respect that brought MLK, Jr. to Memphis in the first place. Empty yesterday when my brother-in-law told me those policemen were “only doing their job.” (WHAT JOB IS THAT, EXACTLY? Paid assassins in police uniforms?) Empty, because I can’t do anything about this, and I am a mother too. Will there be a day when my son or daughter calls for me and I cannot be there?
In my news feed today, I get a pop-up notice that there is another story regarding Tyre Nichols, the young black man murdered at the hands of 5 black police officers. The fact that their arrest and the release of the video showing how they murdered this young man, came so quickly, and the question of would this all have happened so quickly had the officers been white? looming, is a post I’ll save for a later date. But, in case you’re wondering, here’s what I think of these fast-moving events: “You have to be crazy to believe that these charges would have been brought so swiftly had these officers been white.” And, police departments around the country, I’m going to ask that you stop attempting to insult my level of intelligence, by playing that game. I am highly offended!
Another thing, I want those of you who think that only people of color get to be upset over these crimes, to let that nonsense go. This SHOULD upset us all! And it has me raging!
But, none of that matters at this moment. A man was killed by police officers and their unnecessary and deadly force. That is my issue right now.
So, on to the news story, which, in my view, Wanda, should hopefully give you a modicum of assurance that no matter what race inflicts these crimes upon the black community, it will not be tolerated.
Take a look…
“Did You Think You’d Hide Behind Your Blackness?”
Until tomorrow…
***
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Watch Nonnie Write! 
Wanda seems to put her money where her mouth is. Always in the fight and not working around it.
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What a sad situation. Will it ever end?
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All senseless violence is…senseless. Every one of these incidents takes another piece of our nation’s soul. Black, white, green, yellow, purple…I am outraged every single time this happens!!!! Great post, Nonnie!
Best wishes,
Donna M. Atwood
D.M. Atwood
https://www.dmatwood.com
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Racism is ugly, no matter the color of the victim, white, black, yellow, or brown.
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I cannot imagine a scenario that would even come close to rationalizing beating a man to death. A group of police officers who swore to protect the citizens were given a gang name, sent to the community and told to “enforce the law.” What they did to Tyre Nichols is an outrage with a horrible and unnecessary result.
The chief was awfully quick to condemn their actions. Could it be because she is the one who sent “Scorpion” to the streets, with no oversight? Who hired the man who was a former corrections officer charged with brutality in the past? Who relaxed the hiring requirements overall?
The men responsible are all out on bond, while the Nichols family is burying their son. We can hope that justice will prevail, but nothing will bring Tyre back.
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I’m sick over this horrific crime against Tyre, Nonnie. Every time I hear him calling for his mom, and I hear it every time the senseless brutality runs through my mind, I see our sons’ and grandsons’ faces and break into tears all over again. It could happen to any of us. Evil can’t be justified. It can’t be tolerated, not in this case or any case where innocents are brutalized. Not here. Not in Ukraine. Not in China. Not anywhere. It doesn’t leave me feeling empty. It leaves me outraged. Furious.
In this case we know the ones who did it, and they deserve every bit of what’s coming to them. Just one town north of ours, on MLK day, a mom was gunned down in front of her little girl in a random drive-by shooting into a park full of family and children celebrating that great man’s memory. Mostly black families. If anyone saw who did it, no one is talking. I’m outraged!
In Tyre’s case, the names and faces are plastered all over the nation, bringing it to our collective attention. I pray that every criminal who hurts someone is exposed in public and brought to justice, whatever the color of their skin may be.
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Hi, Patty! Yes, we do know who Nichols’ murderers are, just as we knew, right away, who the murderers of George Floyd were: Derek Chauvin (I saw him MURDER this man with my own eyes), J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane, all aided him in doing so, if only by being too cowardly to stop him. You’re right, evil cannot be justified in any way.
And I agree, it could happen to any of us, but what we know for certain, is that it happens to people of color MORE OFTEN than it does to any other race of people, and that’s the issue here. This is also the reason that we should be careful not to negate or downplay what happens to the black community by lumping us into the equation. It’s not happening to us the way it’s happening to them. That’s what we all need to stand on.
So, for those who get upset when they see or hear someone say BLACK LIVES MATTER, and then counter with ALL LIVES MATTER, I won’t even say what I want to say to them, so I’ll keep it clean and simply say, GET OVER IT! All lives should include Black lives, but when we see Black lives being snuffed out, as they say, at the rate at which they are, can we really say that ALL LIVES MATTER? Yes, ALL LIVES DO MATTER, but all lives aren’t endangered the way Black lives are.
Patty, as outraged as you are, so should we all be burning right now with that same outrage.
Thanks for dropping by and chiming in!
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As a grandmother of a 16 year old boy, when I heard this horrible story about Tyre, I couldn’t help but imagine a mother or grandmother or any relative, really, of color, terrified that her or his beloved son/grandson/nephew/cousin would be killed just because of – what? A traffic stop, jaywalking, just being black, it seems. That this was perpetrated by black cops is shocking at a different level. How can we still be stuck here at this time? It is beyond comprehension and yet – think of some of the political rallies glorifying violence against any “other” and some of the rhetoric we hear from congress members and news stations that play to peoples’ fears. What can the rest of us do? I am at a loss. It is soul-crushingly sad.
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Hi, Maura Beth! Soul-crushing… thank you, for there is no better word to describe this ongoing nonsense of senseless killings, especially of people of color.
I saw a group marching yesterday in protest of what has happened. The majority of that group of people were Caucasian, many of them holding signs that read “All lives can’t matter until Black lives matter.”
There is no greater truth than that, and anyone disagreeing with that truth, can stay far away from my blog.
Thanks, Maura Beth!
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Thank you, Nonnie. I started working in the Civil Rights Movement when I was 17. When I spoke about it to my daughter’s sixth-grade class in one of the worst part of Boston (Mission Hill in Roxbury–she had no White children in her entire school), they were incredulous when I told them that White people died working with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Selma march. Two blocks from their school was a plaque to Reverend Reeb, who was beaten to death on the same night as Jimmy Lee Johnson. I told them to go look for that plaque on the Unitarian Church. They did on their way home from school that day. Viola Liuzzo, Goodman and Schwerner are the most famous White people who died fighting for the right for Black people to vote. Now we are fighting so that Black people can survive at the hands of police. Phil Ochs wrote a song called “Too Many Martyrs.” Yes. Too man.
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Amen, Wanda! You keep fighting!
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I agree with you that had the officers been white, this would have stayed quiet much longer, Nonnie. I am so tired of hearing of people in authority abusing their position. There are so many incredible officers out there, and these pathetic excuses for human beings make the whole force look bad. I grieve for Tyre’s family and hope real change comes in the way of police reform (but I’m not holding my breath). 😥
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
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Yes, Pathetic is what they are, Yvette, but I’m not going to sully the entire human race by calling them human beings.
By the way, great minds think alike. Funny, I have spoken with so many people who have said, “Notice how quickly they came to the conclusion that these police officers were wrong? Hmmmm…”
Oh, I noticed!
How long did it take to arrest those responsible for George Floyd’s death? And, I haven’t seen the entire video of Tyre Nichols’ murder, because when I saw George Floyd’s body go limp right in front of my eyes, on national television, I was triggered… and I was angry… and I wanted that POS who had his hands in his pocket and his knee in that man’s neck like it was a normal, every day activity, along with the idiots who stood by watching, to be thrown into a prison filled with black men who would beat their asses until they were light as flimsy pieces of paper, every day for the rest of their miserable lives. I prayed for that, and right now, I pray that they are still getting the ‘worst’ of it in prison.
Let me stop now, Yvette. I feel my anger rising and I don’t want to be consumed with this feeling today.
Thanks for dropping by and not pretending as if you don’t “see” what is actually happening before our eyes.
🙂
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I won’t watch the video, either, Nonnie. My mind would keep it on repeat, and I don’t need that. 😥
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I feel you Nonnie and Yvette.
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Reblogged this on Ask The Good Mommy and commented:
Hi, friends! It could be your son (or daughter).
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