Sabina Bint Benjamin: Tyre Nichols ‘No Different From My Sons’
Photo courtesy of Sabina Bint Benjamin.
EDITOR’S NOTE: On Jan. 7, five Black police officers from the Memphis Police Department severely beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, a Black man, during a traffic stop, resulting in his death three days later in the hospital. The officers were fired on Jan. 20 and were arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping, assault, and misconduct. The deaths have sparked national outrage over police brutality involving Black victims.
OP-ED
By Sabrina Bint Benjamin | AC JosepH Media
ATLANTIC CITY — When now is all you have.
This morning, my oldest son and I went to the beach to meditate. Mesmerized by the sun, we were inspired to explore a bit, to marvel at what many ignore. The radiant sun shining through thin, cotton-stretched clouds dimming our vision.
Sun shining so brightly, forcing you to look away, staining your sight in every direction you chose to look otherwise … breathtaking!
A bright pale line of color, separated the sky from the sea, and then a slightly darker line of periwinkle separated the sea from the gray sand, except for whenever and wherever the waves added a little white that seemed to blend into Allah’s canvas, a perfect portrait.
I found a few odd shells, and my boy stumbled upon a horseshoe crab dropped off on its back by the last tide.
“Oh mom, he’s still breathing. I’ve gotta put him back in the water!”
He said, while taking off his shoes and socks. I tried to caution this knee-jerk reaction in mid-winter, but there was no stopping him from rescuing a soul in need of help. At the moment it was this horseshoe crab, later on it would be a homeless man on the corner at the red light, and so on … I said, to myself, this boy is just like me.
After rescuing the horseshoe crab, we found quiet again, and then comfort in the cold sand, and took turns focusing our minds away from every thought before and after, until we weren’t thinking at all — just existing in the only moment we really have … now.
I am very grateful for moments like these because there’s a woman somewhere with a weary heart less fortunate than I am. The son she once knew and will always cherish is no more. She will never see him alive again, nor hear him call her “mom.”
No, our boys are not perfect, but they are our boys and belong to us. My prayers are even deeper now than ever. I always tell my boys that their lives are precious, have purpose and matter.
I didn’t view Tyre Nichols‘ murder. Just hearing about it is enough for me. This man is no different from my two sons. His senseless death is upsetting and unfathomable.
Oh, you murderers, the prayers of the oppressed are mighty and avenging. You shall reap what you’ve sown.
NOTE: Sabina Bint Benjamin is a holistic health and healing expert, herbalist and yoga instructor living in the Atlantic City area. Her comments first appeared on her Instagram page on Jan. 29 and reposted by the Leadership Studio Facebook.
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