Tyre Nichols

I’m glad for the rapid response of the DA, but I wonder if they would have been as quick if the cops had been white.

Calls for defunding the police may follow, but most community organizers understand there is a role for professionals trained in public safety. The role includes muscle. Muscle, however, doesn’t require deadly force. It means moving people out of harm’s danger – either from other people and for themselves.

The mistake that gets made is that the use of muscle can’t be separated from emotional intelligence. It cannot only be from the power of a gun.

Muscle is not fighting – this is also a mistake. Even the work of subduing the violent is about diminishing emotional energy. It requires recognition that even those who may be involved in illegal activity have their own emotional instincts, and that their life also has intrinsic value. It requires a steady hand and adaptability.

Let justice be done.