Tyre Nichols' Life was Real

Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police on January 7, was described at his memorial service as joyful and lovable. He began each day at Starbucks for coffee with a friend, and outside of his FedEx shifts was a regular at Bible study, an avid skateboarder, and a father to a four-year-old son.

Tyre was also a beautiful photographer, who on his website wrote: “Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way. It expresses me in ways I cannot write down for people. 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.”

That’s what Tyre was doing – photographing a sunset – when police pulled him over for an alleged traffic violation, brutalized him, and then wandered the scene nonchalantly as he lay dying, unattended to, minutes from home. RowVaughn Wells, Tyre’s mother, remembered him as “damn near perfect,” which should not be a requirement, but apparently isn’t enough, to be able to grow old as a Black man.

We at BRYC stand in support and grief alongside Tyre’s family and friends, the city of Memphis, and all Black people for whom this event has been retraumatizing. We are long past mincing words about the recklessness, overaggression, and incompetence that are objectively widespread in law enforcement and a daily threat to Black men.

I, personally, am left wondering what I can do about it. Curtis Chapman, a friend of the family, said “what drew me to Tyre was just – he’s real.” Maybe those of us looking to help can start by remembering that Tyre Nichols’ life was real. His mother’s heartbreak is real. His four-year-old’s confusion and loneliness are real. Tyre Nichols is not an abstraction, not a faceless casualty of our collective consciousness of Black men as dangerous. I know I have a part to play in resisting this dehumanized perception that is ingrained in America and cuts lives like Tyre’s tragically short. We all do.

We at BRYC remember Tyre Nichols for his kindness, creativity, and positive impact. In this dark moment, we uplift his bright spirit, which lights the way toward justice.

Lucas Spielfogel
Executive Director