February 1, 2023
By now, many of us know of the killing of Tyre Nichols. He was a 29-year-old Black father beaten to death by police after getting pulled over in Memphis, Tennessee on January 7, 2023.
The Center for Black Health & Equity is disgusted to learn of this tragedy because, once again, we are witnessing the execution of a Black man at the hands of police. According to The Washington Post, in 2022 alone, over 1,000 people were shot and killed by police in the United States. Black people are 2.9x more likely to be killed by police than white people in the U.S. according to Mapping Police Violence.
“As an organization dedicated to solutions to improve Black health, we can’t stay silent on the fact that the single greatest threat to the bodies of Black people are the systems and agents of those systems that feel compelled to end our lives,” asserts Delmonte Jefferson, executive director of The Center.
The five former officers involved in Nichol’s death have been arrested for second-degree murder and aggravated assault, among other charges.
The Center is calling for justice and policy change to prevent these tragedies from happening in the future. No one should fear for their lives when they see red and blue lights shine across their rearview mirror.
