It's been more than a week since the Memphis Police Department released bodycam footage of Tyre Nichols' fatal encounter with law enforcement on the night Jan. 7. Police Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis cautioned beforehand that the video would stir anger. Indeed it did. Even as some refused to watch yet another wrenching display of Black grief, protests broke out across the country and have spurred conversations not just about ongoing police brutality, but also about the nature of institutional or organizational racism — regardless of the identity of the perpetrator — and about anti-Black sentiment among Black people themselves.
Those are important discussions, and ones that we desperately need to make headway on. But I'm struck by the silence around the issue of masculinity, specifically Black masculinity. The #MeToo movement cracked open space to talk more directly about "toxic masculinity" or the behaviors and attitudes associated with a strand of masculinity that valorizes aggression and dominance over others, particularly those deemed weak or inferior. The problem is that it's abusive, can be deadly and is damaging to all parties involved, including the aggressor.
