journolist:
Ferguson, Missouri Update
Yesterday’s Ferguson Round-Up
Statement by the President on the Passing of Michael Brown (White House)
“The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time. As Attorney General Holder has indicated, the Department of Justice is investigating the situation along with local officials, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed. I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.”
Obama says teen’s death has prompted ‘strong passions’ (Associated Press)
President Barack Obama says that while the shooting death of a Missouri teenager has prompted “strong passions,” people should remember Michael Brown through “reflection and understanding.”
St. Louis Area Police Forces Are Less Diverse Than Communities They Serve, Statistics Show (St. Louis Public Radio)
The call for greater representation of minorities in the region’s law enforcement ranks have grown louder in the wake of the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of a Ferguson police officer. Protesters want to see more minorities especially in the police departments serving predominantly African American communities.
Understanding What’s Happening in Ferguson (ColorLines)
If you’re catching up on the shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, the day’s must-read is this exclusive Trymaine Lee interview with Brown’s friend. It describes 22-year-old Dorian Johnson’s last image of Brown. With police brutality and the apparent cheapness of black life making national news again, reaction and commentary are coming at a furious clip.
The Death of Michael Brown and the Search for Justice in Black America (The Nation)
In the absence of such justice, we take to the streets. We protest, we hold vigils and, yes, we riot. What options are left? Rioting/looting (what some would call rebellion) may not provide answers or justice. But what to do with the anger in the meantime? We are told to stay calm, but calm has not delivered justice either. Do we wait for the FBI to investigate? I guess, but what to do in the meantime, as the images coming from Ferguson echo Watts in 1965? We’re told not to tear up our own communities, when time and time again we’re reminded that they don’t belong to us. Deaths like Michael Brown’s tell us we don’t belong here. What, then?
Police Won’t Release Name Of Officer Who Shot Unarmed Missouri Teen (BuzzFeed)
The decision by Ferguson, Mo., police not to release the name of the officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown has been criticized by the attorney for the Brown family.
Michael Brown Family Calls for Name of Missouri Cop in Shooting (NBC News)
Te parents of slain teen Michael Brown Jr. on Tuesday joined national civil rights leaders in Ferguson, Missouri, to appeal to the community for calm following two nights of clashes with police — and to demand that authorities release the name of the officer responsible for Saturday’s fatal shooting.
Why There’s A No-Fly Zone Over Ferguson, Missouri (ThinkProgress)
On Tuesday, a freelance journalist noticed that a no-fly zone had been issued over Ferguson, Missouri, the site of the recent protests over police violence.
Men Without a Country: Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, My Father and Me (The Daily Beast)
A lesson he learned every time he was pulled over for a speeding ticket, or pulled aside by the store detective and asked to turn out his pockets, or quietly scoffed at and eye-rolled at by a customer service rep for his accent. That lesson was: This Is Not Your Country.
The Dueling Sides of “Just Comply” (The South Lawn)
As a white woman it is very easy for me to say I wouldn’t comply. I would demand more information from the police; I would vehemently oppose and outright disobey unjustified commands from an officer. But that mentality has been fostered by the fact that I didn’t grow up with images of the police abusing people who looked like me.
NAACP Should Already Know That The Politics Of Respectability Cannot Save Black People’s Lives (Gradient Lair)
This is reality. Extrajudicial execution of another Black person on this 28 hour clock. Leaving his body in the street for hours just as was done during lynchings of the past for White consumption/entertainment and psychological warfare on Black people.
An Open Letter to the loved ones of those we lost…. (The Feminist Wire)
Dear Lesley McSpadden, Esaw Garner, Monica McBride, loved ones of Domonique Newburn as well as the countless others of us who have in the last year lost someone dear to unfathomable violence: Your cries have touched our collective soul.