‘He was robbed of his life’: in Memphis, tributes to Tyre Nichols – and a call to action

On a frigid Wednesday afternoon, RowVaughn Wells looked into the crowd of hundreds inside the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, and gave her own call to action in the funeral service for her son Tyre Nichols, who was beaten to death by Memphis police earlier this month. Her voice cracked as she joined a fellowship of other Black mothers who lost their children to police violence over the years.

Wells remembered her son as a “beautiful person”, adding that “for this to happen to him is unimaginable”.

A voice from the crowd shouted that her son had “changed the world”. She nodded.

“We need to take some action. This should be no other child,” Wells said. “If we don’t, the next child that dies, the blood will be on their hands.”

Her son’s body lay before her in a dark brown casket at the church, just 19 miles north-west of his memorial site, where a large white cross stood surrounded by stuffed animals, balloons and, notably, a skateboard.