'Why is the list so long?': Vigil honors Tyre Nichols, calls for change

Gina Butkovich, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·4 min read
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"All mothers were summoned when he called for his Mama" a flyer advertising the Sunday candlelight vigil for Tyre Nichols at Shelby Farms Park read.

More than 50 people, mothers included, showed up, crowding around the stage in front of Hyde Lake to rally, organize and observe a moment of silence for Nichols, who died on Jan. 10 at the age of 29, three days after being stopped and beaten by Memphis Police in an incident that is under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

More:'He loved Tennessee': Friends remember Tyre Nichols, man who died after MPD arrest

Video footage of the beating, released by the city of Memphis on Jan. 27, shows Nichols repeatedly crying out for his mom, RowVaughn Wells.

Vice President Kamala Harris holds the hand of RowVaughn Wells as she is held by her husband Rodney Wells during the funeral service for her son Tyre Nichols at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.
Vice President Kamala Harris holds the hand of RowVaughn Wells as she is held by her husband Rodney Wells during the funeral service for her son Tyre Nichols at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.

“Mothers around the world, when their babies are born, pray to God when they hold that child that that body and that life will be safe for the rest of his life,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at Nichols' Memphis celebration of life this past week. “Yet, we have a mother and a father who mourn the life of a young man who should be here today. They have a grandson who now does not have a father. His brothers and sister will lose the love of growing old with their baby brother.”

Kimberly Baker, a mother, holds her sign at the Feb. 5 Tyre Nichols vigil. The sign reads "Tyre was supposed to have more sunsets."
Kimberly Baker, a mother, holds her sign at the Feb. 5 Tyre Nichols vigil. The sign reads "Tyre was supposed to have more sunsets."

Kimberly Baker, a mother, came to the vigil holding a sign that read "Tyre was supposed to have more sunsets."

"I'm a mom, I've got two kids, two teenagers, and they have been skateboarders, at some point in their lives, and to see all that footage of him, doing the thing they loved, to hear the mom speak, and to just know that he was just on his way home," Baker said after the vigil, pausing to wipe her eyes. "That's why I'm here. And also, I can't believe this is the place we've really come to now. But if it can bring the community together, with something peaceful like this, to bring awareness, that's why we're here."

Nichols was a skateboarder. Yesterday, over 100 friends and family members packed an indoor skate ramp at a Sacramento skate shop to remember him. Nichols is from Sacramento, moving to Memphis in 2020.

"He always said he was free when he was on that board," Wells said at the California event.

Following the release of the video, Memphis has seen over a week of peaceful protests. The night of the video release, protesters shut down the Interstate 55 bridge connecting Tennessee and Arkansas. On Saturday, protesters shut down traffic at the intersection of Poplar Ave. and Danny Thomas Blvd. for around 10 hours.

"In the weeks since his murder, the city has come together in many different ways to push for the justice he and his family deserve," Jeanell "TBJ" Jones told the crowd Sunday night.

Flyers outlining the community demands activists and organizers have been pushing for were passed out. The demands are to pass the data transparency ordinance, end the use of pretextual traffic stops, end the use of unmarked cars and plainclothes officers, dissolve SCORPION, OCU and MGU and end the use of task forces and specialized unites and to remove police from traffic enforcement. Organizers have urged people to "pack the rooms" at this weeks County Commission and City Council meetings, Monday at 3 p.m. and Tuesday at 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively, to make sure these demands are heard by the commission and council members.

"We need our demands met," Bluu Davis, the founder of Love Your Neighbor 901, told the crowd Sunday. "We witnessed a 29-year old man, somebodies son, somebodies brother, murdered in our backyard. Feet away from his home where his mother was waiting for him. His mother. Where he cried, three times, hoping that she heard him that night."

Attendees at the Feb. 5 vigil in honor of Tyre Nichols observe a moment of silence.
Attendees at the Feb. 5 vigil in honor of Tyre Nichols observe a moment of silence.

The night, which included a moment of silence for Nichols as the sun began to set, also included chants such as "no justice, no peace" and "justice for Tyre." One of the young kids in the crowd waved a "no justice, no peace" sign made with colorful-bubble letters.

At the end of the night, as Davis was giving closing thoughts, she said "this should have ended when we saw Sandra [Bland], this should have ended with George Floyd." People started yelling names from the crowd; "with Breonna Taylor, "Ahmaud Arbery," "Eric Garner," "Mike Brown."

"All of them," Davis said. "Keep going, keep going. Why is the list so long?"

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby Farms vigil honors Tyre Nichols and calls for change