“Mom, Mom, Mom” were the last words from Tyre Nichols (29), screaming for his mother in agony while being attacked by five Black Memphis police officers on January 7, 2023, after being pulled over at a traffic stop. The body cam, released by the Memphis Police Department on January 27th, detailed graphic images of the brutal attack on Nichols. Nichols was near his mother’s house when the beating occurred. Nichols died three days later after being in critical condition.
RowVaughn Wells, Nichol’s mother, was unaware that her son’s life was at risk. A tearful Wells shared her distress on not being there to protect her son (who was close to their home at the time of the attack), during a press conference after the bodycam release. “For a mother to know that their child was calling them in their need, and I wasn’t there for him. Do you know how I feel right now because I wasn’t there for my son?”, Wells stated, according to MSN.
Police brutality is capturing public attention thanks to modern technology. The visual images of those victimized by police brutality leave loved ones grieving. Mothers are generally the public image of mourning loved ones, fighting for justice for their lost loved ones, victimized by police brutality.
George Floyd, who died nearly three years ago from police brutality inflicted by four Minneapolis Police Officers, flashes in my mind because of its obscene similarities. Floyd also aguishly cried to his deceased mother while gasping for air while pinned to the ground with the officer’s knee on his neck. Floyd’s mother passed away two years before her son’s murder.
Floyd calling his mother, in my opinion, is metaphorically described as him seeing his mother in the spirit before he transitioned. Floyd and Nichols carry the imprint of their mothers’ names on their bodies. Nichols has a tattoo of his mother’s name on his arm his mother shared, per CBS News. Similarly, George Floyd has his mother’s name tattooed on his stomach, according to Meaaw.com.
There’s a unique biological connection between mothers and their children. According to an Evie Magazine article, fetal cells from a child can remain in the mother’s body for decades after giving birth. The story from Evie Magazine also specifies that 50% of adults still had their mother’s cells in their blood, tissues, and organs for decades. Nichols’ mother, Wells, described to reporters this uncomfortable feeling on the day of her son’s brutal murder. “I was telling someone that I had this really bad pain in my stomach earlier, not knowing what had happened. But once I found out what happened, that was my son’s pain that I was feeling, and I didn’t even know it”, Wells stated during the interview, according to MSN.
Floyd and Nichol’s pleas for their mother brought me back to when a child cried for their mother to come to the rescue in times of trouble. Mothers not only gestate and grant us an introduction to life, but they can keep giving it to us throughout their years. Mothers symbolize comforter and nurturer, especially in their child’s vulnerable stage. Examples of this are mothers caring for their sick child or children, a mother visiting the school after her child was teased or bullied in school, or an adult child seeking advice from their mother on a life-changing decision. In biblical content, according to Isaiah 66:13, God uses the mother metaphorically to describe his care for his children.
The synergistic heritable traits of mothers and children carrying themselves in one another are beyond immeasurable. Nichols and Floyd may no longer be with us, but their adoration for their mother, even in darkness, shows how a mother’s love is vital, especially to black men vying for comfort in this world that’s noticeably unfair to them.