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Tyre Nichols was a father, FedEx employee and avid photographer. He also was passionate about skateboarding. His death has illuminated the sport’s diversity.
It was a tragedy, to be sure.
A horrific tragedy that sparked protests, vigils and demands for justice now.
The death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man beaten by five police officers after a traffic stop in Memphis in late January, also captured something unexpected.
He was a father, a FedEx employee and an avid photographer. But it was through the lens of skateboarding that Nichols’ life – and death – revealed ways in which the world has changed.
A minute-long video released by Nichols’ family showed him skateboarding with skill and joy. The footage mobilized a sport once considered the exclusive province of white kids.
Skateboarders took to the streets.
Black, white and brown, they rode in Los Angeles, Memphis and New York. Gathered in skateparks across the country. Honored one of their own while reflecting a diversity that challenged any lingering stigma.
On a recent day, the son of a Tuskegee Airman stood inside the Skateboarding Hall of Fame and Museum in Simi Valley, California. He pointed to a banner with a list of the 160 inductees.
“There’s my name,’’ he said.
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Marty Grimes, 62, uses photos to illustrate challenges he faced.
Not just the photos of him getting airborne in skatepark pools. But also the one showing five photographers in ideal position to take his photo during an aggressive ride.
All of the photographers are white. Only one is seen snapping a photo. Grimes said he thinks many of the photographers and skateboarding magazines were partial to white skateboarders and helps explain why his unique story is not better known.
Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1970s, he and his older brother, Clyde Jr., were bussed to predominantly white schools. They rode their skateboards across the steep banks in the schoolyard as if they were surfers on concrete waves.
In 1975, the Grimes brothers became the first Black skateboarders to turn pro.
