Eight months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson triggered raucous protests around the country and transformed the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter into a nascent movement, the political scene in Ferguson, Missouri where the shooting took place has changed dramatically. Continue reading
Tag Archives: police reform
The Politics and Demographics that Sabotaged the #EricGarner Grand Jury Decision
Staten Island is New York City’s only reliably Republican borough in part because it is the city’s whitest, least ethnically diverse borough. Continue reading
Time to Get Rid of the Mayor, City Council, and Prosecutor in #Ferguson
If Michael Brown’s death is to lead to meaningful change, if he is not to become another Abner Louima or Amadou Diallo — shot by cops, protested about, and ultimately nothing changed — the struggle in Ferguson must become political, that is, it must develop a fighting electoral wing.
In the 20 years since the Rodney King beating inaugurated the citizen’s video camera as a new weapon in the fight against police brutality, there has been little to no meaningful police reform in the United States because such fights never developed such a wing. Continue reading