I’ve had several posts in draft form for the past week, but I’ve been unable to finish them. I can’t concentrate on writing or thinking about anything but the state of world. So much hurt. So much disrespect and cruelty. It’s been a struggle for me—a normally optimistic person—to stay positive. I’ve had to work harder at finding moments of joy this week. I believe in those moments of inspiration and magic but the noise of sadness and anger is overwhelming.
One way I am pushing through that noise is by sharing stories. In a previous post, What I Learned About Race at #BlogHer14, I wrote that “when you come upon stories that are not your own but are impactful, share them.”
So, I’m sharing the story of the murder of Michael Brown and the subsequent pain and outrage of the residents of his community, Ferguson, Missouri, an outrage that has spread across our country. I hope you already know about it, and my post is one of many you’ve been reading on the subject. I hope you’re concerned about what’s happening in Ferguson and what it says about race in America. I hope you think, like I do, that things must change.
If you’re not up to speed on Ferguson, and I know people who aren’t, I hope you’ll take some time today, to read about it:
1 || Black Lives Matter. Eric Garner was Last Month and Now Mike Brown
2 || Racial Bias, Policy Brutality, and the Dangerous Act of Being Black
3 || Gathering Under Street Lamps
4 || In which I have a few things to tell you about #Ferguson
5 || Why My Family Talked During the National Moment of Silence
6 || My Privilege is Showing. I Think It’s Probably Better That Way
7 || Ten Things White People Can Do about Ferguson Besides Tweet
Also, you can:
Know this photo (which I cannot get out of my mind), and the others like it, and understand what they say about police treatment of people of color in the US.
Follow #NMOS14 and #Ferguson on Twitter for news, as many concerns have been raised about mainstream’s media coverage.
“To build community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually
do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination.”
— bell hooks, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope
