CINCINNATI — People in Cincinnati joined Memphis organizers in a nationwide day of action to demand justice for Tyre Nichols.
New Prospect Baptist Church held a discussion about what happened to Nichols, but they also talked about current issues in Cincinnati.
“So, Cincinnati has said ok we want to stand in solidarity with Memphis and we’re going to get online and show them what we’ve done here. We’re also going to talk about housing, the affordable housing trust fund. We’re going to talk about food access and distribution,” said Co-Founder of Cincinnati Black United Front Iris Roley.
Roley said she hopes people come engaged and ready to take action on the issue(s) that matter to them.
She added it was hard to watch the video of Nichols being beaten by Memphis police officers, but it was a video she had to watch. Roley said to make policing better, you have to understand how police are policing.
She noted people look at Cincinnati as a reference on how to hold police accountable because of the collaborative agreement. When she was working on this, she discovered there was a lot of resistance to equity and transparency and believes this is what we are seeing across the country.
She said they will also take some time to reflect on all the things they’ve accomplished in Cincinnati and all of the work that still needs to be done.
“I think what we’re missing in this month, Black History, African-American history which is a part of American History is to hear us. Not try to dictate to us, not try to tell us what we feel, know, experienced for many decades is wrong, but to actually hear us and be about helping us to affect practical change,” Roley said.
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