RowVaughn Wells (born ) is an American

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

activist. She is the mother of Tyre Nichols, a man killed by Memphis police in January 2023. She advocates for the prevention of

police brutality in the United States Police brutality is the repression by personnel affiliated with law enforcement when dealing with suspects and civilians. The term is also applied to abuses by "corrections" personnel in municipal, state, and federal prison camps, including mi ...

. Wells has influenced the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

to pursue

police reform Criminal justice reform addresses structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Criminal justice reform can take place at any point where the cr ...

Life

Wells was born and is from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. She is the mother of Tyre Nichols who was killed by Memphis police officers in January 2023. In the aftermath, she has advocated for the prevention of

. Wells has influenced the

to pursue

as a result of

. She praised Memphis police chief, Cerelyn J. Davis for her quick response. In February 2023, Wells and her husband, Rodney Wells visited the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

before attending the

State of the Union Address The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...

at the invitation of the

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce ...

. They received a standing ovation from members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. Wells joined reverend

Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic ...

to speak out about the death of her son at the House of Justice in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in March 2023. In April 2023, she was named to the ''Time'' 100 list of the most influential people in the world for her strength and response to her son's death. In April 2023, Wells' lawyer,

Benjamin Crump Benjamin Lloyd Crump (born October 10, 1969) is an American attorney who specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits. His practice has focused on cases such as Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, ...

filed a federal suit against the Memphis Police Department. Wells is married to Ron Wells. She has three children in addition to Nichols.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Rowvaughn Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American women Living people 1960s births African-American activists American women activists Activists from Oakland, California Activists from Memphis, Tennessee American social justice activists