Here we go again….

Yesterday the videos of the beating and ultimate death of Tyre Nichols of Memphis, TN was released. Of course the death loop and endless watching of this will accomplish little to nothing but will be used as evidence in the criminal trials of the four Officers who individually at some level contributed to his death, including clubbing him in the skull, tasing him, kicking him repeatedly and punching him then dragging his unconscious body to sit against the police vehicle and waited over 20 minutes for Medics to arrive. Ah those first responders that we so idolize right?

I write often about Nashville and my negative views of the State and that city in particular. I do want to say that Memphis is not a perfect city and there is immense poverty and of course there have been some hideous crimes that made the news, a serial shooter and the abduction, rape and murder of a Teacher on an early morning jog, but the reality is it is a city like many I have visited, both in the South, the North and the Midwest. And with that I have met amazing people and difficult people and come away with stories and a sense of a place that often is maligned and misrepresented in the media. And Memphis is one. It is a place of SOUL and much like the city down the river in Louisiana, New Orleans, it is complex polynomial. And I have found that in almost all my travels of said cities… Louisville, Cleveland, Baltimore. For the record Detroit has often been portrayed as such, but for the wrong reasons. I will never return there as there is nothing there.

I just returned from a day trip to Philadelphia and with that visited the Barnes Foundation and their Museum of Art to see two exhibits at each; Modigliani at the Barnes and Matisse in the 30s at PMA. Amazing venues, packed to the rafters with lovers of art and amazing individuals who were working the crowds that again lean to largely old white folks with varying ailments, disabilities and overall angst about being in public. A fun crowd. Okay but there were some younger and people of color at the PMA and they were expressing deep curiosity and interest at the art and the stories Matisse was telling in his work. The Barnes.. no. I am not sure that Modigliani was an artist that spoke to them in the way Matisse does in the popular culture. Sad really as he died at age 30 and his work is much more lush and complex than a simple viewing allows. The Barnes had taken X-Rays, Thermal Imagining and used other technologies to uncover a wealth of info and material on the artist. He reused other Artists canvas and painted over their work, he used cardboard and was also a painter who sketched and painted directly on the work only to revise it. Amazing exhibit and brilliant curation. My love of Matisse was only expanded by this exhibit at the PMA but it did not change my adoration that the MOMA accomplished with their amazing exhibit of the Red Studio last year. That will always be my most treasured exhibit as it was a “Where’s Waldo” moment to spot the art and the way the artist used a signature in all his works that at times is obvious and others less so. I learned a great deal so that knowledge came to use when someone asked what a yellow blob was in one work, and I said: “Flowers, Matisse loved flowers and they are in almost all his work these are just an Impressionist view.” And sure enough there were photos of the scene in the studio that showed the vase of flowers in their natural state. I owe that to MOMA.

The day in Philly was cold and I wandered the city and like many metro centers it was dead and many shops and businesses closed. I rode a largely empty subway to familiarize myself with their transit but basically it was an easy walk back to the Station after lunch at a recommended pub in the area. As always the people I met were charming and friendly and the food was well as most – average and expensive. I am becoming disappointed of late with the options of food and the lack of quality with regards to price. I see why the restaurants at the two Museums were packed and required reservations, as again options were few. But walking through Philly I saw charming blocks with restaurants and shops, not yet open but were there giving an indication that there are as always, pockets of activity tucked into corners worth exploring. I look forward to returning.

And I truly did not want to ruin that day with the images in that video, so this morning with my coffee I did and all I really did was focus on the sounds. The young man crying for his Mother, the Cops ranting and breathing heavily, their rage and ramblings and of course the last breaths of Tyre as he begged them to stop and they kept on beating him until there was nothing but silence. You see the red lights and hear the conversations between the Officers debate the condition of the man they have beaten to near death and with that you see others standing around watching, for who or what I am not sure but again it is very reminiscent of the Floyd killing only this is by five men of color repeatedly assaulting a man of color. They use every tool in their arsenal other than a gun, their feet, their hands, their clubs and their tasers. Did they think it was less severe or that a gun shot would be the final nail in THEIR coffin?

I leave it at that. I have little more to add and my rage, anger and sheer confusion about why this continues is not surprising. The protests will be less intense and fewer and we will go back to our homes, to our places of business, our places of congregation and we will do what we always do. Rage and rant and offer thoughts and prayers and nothing will change. Why? We simply cannot get guns out of the equation. No guns were found, nor shots fired and yet here we are, another death by the hands of the Police. They constantly complain they were in fear. I see none of that on display in that video, I see a man being yanked from the car, he being pushed to the ground, him managing to get up and run and they pursue him determined to find him and in turn determined to bring him to his knees. I saw the same video last week with the young Black Teacher on Wilshire in Los Angeles. And I will see it again in another city with another young Black man in the future. America we are a violent dangerous nation, obsessed with crime, obsessed with guns and in turn we see anyone as the enemy. I see the Police as mine but I have for years. I have been the victim of lies by Cops, their pursuit of lies and a Medic who enabled and assisted them in doing so. First Responders are the agents of death not of saviors. They can all go fuck themselves.