I couldn’t turn away from Ferguson MO last night. I haven’t been able to since August 9,[ref]A friend of mine is a columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, so I was following the story through him and others on Twitter well before the cable news cameras finally made it to town.[/ref] when Michael Brown was shot.
I’m angry. I’m frustrated. I’m so crushingly sad for my friends who have to worry about this for their sweet little boys. I don’t know what to do with any of that emotion. I know that just being angry & frustrated & sad isn’t sufficient. I don’t know — as a white suburban stay-at-home mom — what I can do with any of it that can actually affect any change.
So for now, at least, I’m going to keep listening and paying attention.
Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer.
The medical examiner said compression of the neck and chest, along with Garner’s positioning on the ground while being restrained by police during the July 17 stop on Staten Island, caused his death.
In the final moments of the footage from August 5, Crawford is seen standing at the end of an aisle, pointing the [AirSoft] gun downwards at his side, occasionally swinging it and holding it towards a store shelf containing pet products. Oblivious to the unfolding police response, Crawford, 22, talks casually on the phone with the mother of his two young sons.
Ford had a history of mental illness and had been convicted of marijuana possession and illegal possession of a loaded firearm. In January, he was put on probation for trespassing in Long Beach. … What is clear: After he was stopped, Ford was killed, shot by two members of the Los Angeles Police Department.
I know. I just don’t know, either.
I think nothing will be enough. But this is a good start. Does that even make sense? I don’t know. But I hope so.