A Culture of Violence
After watching the Tyre Nichols video and being inundated with news coverage of the awful murder, many people are asking, how could people who swore to protect and serve perpetrate such absolute brutality?
For those of us who have been doing police accountability and police reform work for some time, the answer seems clear: policing in this country is a racist and white supremacist institution founded to perpetuate violence upon black bodies, and it continues to function that way today. It kinda rolls off our tongues at this point.
Here is something we must consider. Despite the clarity long-time activists feel about why police often perpetrate such terror on black bodies and communities, we cannot look past the real and gut-wrenching question that many are asking and the rage that accompanies that question.
We won’t lie. At this point, even outrage feels inadequate. And we cannot ignore that outrage. Instead, we must harness it and use it as a tool to forge new pathways in the long struggle for black liberation and an end to police violence.
Our dear Brother Tyre was ripped from us by gang violence. But this time, the gang was the police: the most powerful and protected gang in the country, gangsters in badges.
With all the grief that surrounds us, we want to take time to offer some thoughts on how we process and act together:
Find ways to celebrate the life of Tyre, mourn his murder, send love and strength to those who knew him and loved him, and draw closer to our kin folk.
Tap into outrage and use it to bolster our demands for the end of violent policing and the lack of police accountability.
Surround yourself with like-minded people. People who want a world where police violence does not continue to destroy our lives and communities. We invite you to join our Police Accountability Issue team. Here we will imagine campaigns and take actions that lead to a city where we are safe. Request information about joining an Issue Team.
We must take seriously the idea that those officers acted the way they did because, deep down, they knew that in this country, police are allowed to apprehend and kill black people with impunity. This behavior is not just about one, two, or five officers; this is a culture of violence.
While folks in Memphis stand on the frontlines and demand justice, as they imagine it for Tyre, those of us in Chicago and beyond must use this moment to call for deep systemic change, maybe even the end of policing as we know it.
Indeed, something is terribly wrong when time and again, we witness murder at the hands of those called police officers. But, despite how often we see it, we must never normalize it. Never not take to the streets. Never not raise your voice to demand justice. That is how we change our city, the state, and this country.
Working together for a world where black bodies are not subjected to random acts of violence and terror,
Waltrina, Erica, Arewa, Kwyn, Larry, Keron.