Ugh – so I’ve been writing a lot about Ferguson, MO where a grand jury has just decided NOT to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown. I don’t claim to know more about it that anyone else, but it’s my Journal and writing helps me think!
I had a long conversation with my friend Peggy about it today and I’ve been thinking about an article she sent me… like I said, I write when I think. Bear with me.
Justice Pressley Justin Barlette Frank Hogarts Eric Nassau
(in response to an article in The Root titled “12 Ways to Be a White Ally to Black People” dated August 19th, 2014 – I think when I was typing my initial response I hadn’t realized that the article had been written post-shooting but pre-Grand Jury decision, so a lot of the information that I have now may not have been as available)
So – I’m putting together my “essay” or whatever – and here’s one of the things that really, really bugs me (especially since I’ve been reading article after article after article) – the ABOVE article has a lot of really important points. But they kick off with such an opinionated, leading and incorrect synopsis of the shooting of Michael Brown that they lose my trust almost instantly and it makes me critical of their points. I know I’m in the minority, but I think it’d be great if we as a people were more inclined to trust someone that came across as unbiased than someone who clearly agrees with us. Unfortunately, we’re looking for like pack minds to run with.
It’s a huge problem with reporting today – people leading with a conclusion (hey, that means you get the RIGHT readers, right?) and THEN going through the story, as opposed to a story that leads people towards a conclusion.
I guess I have a HUGE issue with EXTREMES and leading language. I think #2 is HUGE. It doesn’t matter if a kid is good or bad, or frankly… a kid! It matters that the police officer is there to protect the public good – and that is not served by gunning someone down in the street. Now – the child shot in Ohio is a hugely different thing: facts and videos have been released rather than a story and a convenient narrative. Kristen jost showed my the video and I hope they nail that cop to the WALL. In Missouri, however, they’re leading with story and good narrative – and if you can’t get solid evidence convicting someone at high noon on a public street filled with people – well, maybe in an innocent until proven guilty environment, that’s the way it’s SUPPOSED to work.
Kicking off the night for December 2nd’s open mic at Board and Brew. James Edwards The Doctor Admiral Thaddeus
“Some facts are uncontroverted: Brown was unarmed when he was shot about 35 feet away from Wilson, who didn’t know that Brown was a suspect in an alleged shoplifting incident that occurred a short time before the shooting. “ Well, Brown was unarmed, but the 35 feet, facing away or towards, is certainly not “uncontroverted” – and no, the officer didn’t know Brown was a suspect in an alleged shoplifting, he knew someone of Brown’s height, weight, (and yes skin colour), but wearing the same colour hat and jacket had just been involved with an alleged shoplifting. Pretending like Darren Wilson had no reason to single out Brown, or stopped him for “jaywalking”, obfuscates the very REAL questions about what happened.
Juels Bland. Denny Buck.
And then article loses me again with #3 by doing EXACTLY what they’re speaking out against. Protest, revolution, riot, looting – these are NOT synonymous – rightfully pointed out. But public businesses on fire and used car lots being burned – this is NOT “revolution” unless what you’re revolting against is bad business practices and bad used car warranties – or maybe very indirectly insurance companies.
That’s just pent-up aggression, anger and frustration being pointed at entirely the wrong target and to call it something as high-minded as “revolution” is just as bad as the way the news agencies are calling mostly-peaceful protests and no physical injuries (according to cleared heads come morning) a “riot”. If most newspapers have to pull photos from the August riots (legitimate word there, I think – “a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd” – it implies violence, not lack of purpose, intelligence or direction) to post with their current articles, they KNOW they’re being misleading.
#5 and #6 are huge. And with poverty goes lack of education. And lack of education breeds all of the above. #6 is tangled with education… and the fact that EITHER you can have a self-governing self-educating populace – or a government-knows-best educational system with a self-propagating government – or an uneducated populace that gets governed by a self-serving government… we TRY to have the first, but end up with the last because people don’t do EXACTLY #6 – which is to dig up REAL information and are satisfied with what they’re spoon-fed.
This is waaay beyond the tagline of not trusting FOX news or fearing “mainstream” media. It’s about reading up on a dozen websites and reading up on who owns them and beyond that having friends in Ferguson, MO when there’s theoretically chaos in the streets of Ferguson, MO. It’s about being upset that an article from the Root magazine, which is all about the “black” perspective, unfortunately can’t financially stand on its own and is owned by Slate – which is unabashedly leftist, but at least has the same access to information as major investigative news corporations, being owned by the same company as the Washington Post – it’s about knowing enough of the OTHER facts to be suspicious of someone who doesn’t LEAD with facts but rather with narrative when facts are thin on the ground.
Number 12 I think has its tenses ALL fucked up. Yup, we’re 400 years into the system, but it’s not like fighting back started in August with the shooting of one black kid – or last year with Trayvon Martin. Those are the huge ugly reminders that we MUST not
forget that this is still happening and it’s still a struggle – but wording that implies we haven’t even started it yet is offensive to everyone who’s been working hard for decades.
Ugh – sorry, I’m a believer that people need to make up their own minds, but with so many corporations maliciously clouding the waters, it’s hard to trust people know enough to do so… the video of the shooting of the 12 year-old in Cleveland shows the officer to CLEARLY be in the wrong, and it’s not getting the attention that it deserves because people are so riled about Michael Brown. There are so many questions about Brown’s killing that it’s a terrible rallying cry. And there are so many bad decisions clouding the very REAL issue of media and cultural bias that he makes for a horrible martyr for the cause of civil rights…. And because there’s so much noise about Michael Brown, the 12 year-old who’s shot in an obvious case of a cop “jumping the gun” (sorry, pun horribly intended) will NOT get the attention it needs and will merely be a footnote as “while you were outraged about x, x is happening ALL the TIME!!!”
