Ferguson
-
Activism
On Madison, Tony Robinson, and White Liberal Defensiveness
Last weekend Tony Robinson, 19, was shot five times by a police officer and killed. This happened just blocks from where I live. The last week has been a flurry of protests, press conferences, demonstrations, and local and national news coverage. It’s been surreal for me to see activists I follow as far away as Palestine tweeting pictures of my…
Read More » -
Activism
Not All Cops.
Yesterday a grand jury decided that the only person indicted in the killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man choked to death in broad daylight in New York City, would be the person who filmed his death. This morning the St. Louis Police Department posted a social media update titled “Kids will be kids?” I hoped, for one fleeting moment,…
Read More » -
Skepticism
What Ferguson Can Teach Journalists
One of my many takeaways from Ferguson coverage over the last two weeks has been a confirmation of a suspicion I’ve held for awhile: journalists have more than earned their bad rap. Sources don’t assume that we’ll quote them unfairly, that prejudice and stereotypes will dominate our narrative, and that we’re after “the story” rather than the truth because they’re…
Read More » -
Guest Bloggers
Guest Post: The Second Amendment is for White People
Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post, by Jon Childress, is a must-read on the racial politics of guns in America. ****** If you haven’t been following (on social media, not cable news) the finally-concluding force escalation against protesters by police after the fatal shooting of unarmed Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, you’re missing what should one day be…
Read More » -
Meta Stuff
Skepchick Sundaylies: PUAs, Genetic Medicine, and 23andMe
Teen Skepchick The Physics Philes, lesson 111: The Legend of Kundt’s Tube Mindy applies nodes and anti-notes to longitudinal waves. The Not So Beautiful Game Step 3: In Which Our Narrator Gets Close to Thinking of Women as People, but Veers Off Very Expectedly into Rapiness In which women are things and men are predators. Escéptica Weirdness of the Human…
Read More » -
Activism
A Day in Ferguson, MO
I’m writing this post on Sunday night as chaos has just erupted once again in Ferguson, Missouri. And I’m sick to my stomach because I spent most of Saturday afternoon and evening in the town, joining the protestors, and my heart goes out to the community who are trying to keep it together while the world watches their town turn…
Read More » -
Activism
Tear gas, CS smoke canisters, and #Ferguson
Over the past week, we’ve seen tear gas and CS smoke canisters used on people of Ferguson, Missouri. On social media – and in the general media – there seems to be confusion as to the difference between tear gas and CS smoke canisters. Is there a difference? The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) ‘Facts About Riot Control Agents Interim…
Read More » -
Activism
Riot Response From Los Angeles to Ferguson
I really wanted to write something profound about the situation happening in Ferguson, MO. The problem is, I know it’s not my story to tell. My story happened 22 years ago and even to that story, I was still merely a witness. I am a white person and I don’t live in Ferguson so I can’t truly understand the pain…
Read More »
