Are you following Buzzfeed’s Joel Anderson yet? He’s been in Ferguson all week, and he is putting himself in unbelievably dangerous situations in order to report what’s going on. It’s an important corrective to mainstream reports — I’m more shocked than I should be, probably, at the number of stories I’ve seen in national newspapers and TV networks giving credence to the police’s lies about “reaching for the gun” and mass, widespread looting necessitating tear gas and crackdowns.
A Ferguson cop tells a journalist to turn his camera off or he’ll shoot him, while being recorded.
Tear gassing children and the media three hours before curfew without warning; non-white reporters being excluded from the press zone.
I don’t want to fall too deep into the rabbit hole of “what are celebrities saying about police brutality,” but Jesse Williams is a beacon of moral clarity:
“This is a tradition in this country, where people are able to go ahead and kill Black people because they’ve gotten sassed or inconvenienced. We’re victims of a fantasy. This fantasy of what the Black body does and can do has become more importantly than the reality and we pay for it with our lives,” Williams said. “Look at the amount of boys that are being shot because you feel scared. The idea of feeling threatened is not the same thing as being threatened. We pretend that it is, but it’s not. We have to keep fighting to be heard and to be treated like human beings.”
When Velez-Mitchell introduced William’s class privilege into the conversation, asking how he could still feel so “disenfranchised” with all of his success, he responded:
“I don’t think of just me, I think of a collective group of people. While privilege is very well, whether it’s a class issue that obviously exists–I’m glad you bring that up. This idea of having to explain why it’s racial, while we’re standing in our own blood is silly. It’s racial because it doesn’t happen to White people.”
don’t talk about what a babe he is, now is not the time to discuss what a babe he is, WHAT A BABE THOUGH
Donating money doesn’t fix the constellation of fuckups in Ferguson-in-particular and America-in-general, but Michael Brown’s family could use some help with their legal costs as they seek justice, so if you have a dollar or two to spare, consider sending it their way. You can also donate to the legal fund supporting arrested protestors here.
Black Women Are Killed By The Police Too
“Prevailing narratives around Black violability and anti-Black racial violence pivot around Black men and boys,” said Dr. Lindsey. “Both historically and contemporarily, when many people working towards racial justice around the issue of racial violence, the presumptive victim is a Black male. From lynching to police brutality, the presumed victim is a Black male. Therefore, Black women and girls are viewed as exceptional victims as opposed to perpetual victims of anti-Black racial violence. Our narratives around racial violence, unfortunately, have yet to evolve into ones that are gender inclusive. Black Victim=Black Male.”
Yes, we must have justice for John Crawford, Ezell Ford, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown. But we cannot forget about Yvette Smith, Eleanor Bumpurs, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Tarika Wilson, and so many others whose stories hover on the edges of obscurity.
It’s worth following St. Louis Public Radio on Twitter for local updates.
What vile, unmitigated bullshit:
Here is @GovJayNixon‘s statement calling the National Guard into #Ferguson: pic.twitter.com/RgHrKV1qOx
— Jason Rosenbaum (@jrosenbaum) August 18, 2014
A Change.org petition asking St. Louis police to wear body cameras; an article weighing the pros and cons on the practice.
