-THE INSTITUTION-
-VS-
-THE INSTITUTIONALIZED "OTHER"-
personal testimonies
police &
popular media
'THE SPARK'- FERGUSON
POLICE BRUTALITY
“I can’t breathe.” “Hands up.” “Black lives matter.”
po·lice bru·tal·i·ty
pəˈlēs/ bro͞oˈtalədē/
;the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians.
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false arrests
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verbal abuse
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sexual abuse
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police corruption
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racial profiling
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political repression
Black Lives Matter has been described as “not your grandfather’s civil-rights movement,” to distinguish its tactics and its philosophy from those of nineteen-sixties-style activism.
Black Lives Matter’s insistent outsider status has allowed it to shape the dialogue surrounding race and criminal justice in this country - it has also sparked a debate about the limits of protest, particularly of online activism.
Ferguson Is 60 Percent Black. Virtually All Its Cops Are White.
"They treat us like second class all the way down the line," one black resident told the LA Times.
-WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BE?-
Alicia Garza, a labor organizer in Oakland, espouses a type of ecumenical activism.
-ON A NATIONAL LEVEL-
#justice4loku #justice4carby
The killing of Andrew Loku, a black man shot by police outside of his apartment in Toronto after Loku reportedly confronted his upstairs neighbor over loud noise.
After The Toronto Star reported on July 27 that the Special Investigations Unit, "a provincial watchdog that investigates deaths and injuries involving police officers, announced it would not be pressing charges in Carby's death,"
Black Lives Matter Toronto staged a protest for Loku and Carby on the busy Allen Expressway, blocking traffic for almost two hours.
For now, Black Lives Matter Toronto is working on what Cole says is a "culture of silence" in Canada that prevents open conversations about race.
[Canadians] are open to discussion but only when it's put in a beautiful package: a package that can be ignored.”
A NEW KIND OF MOVEMENT FOUND ITS MOMENT
-BLACK INDIVIDUALS IN THE MEDIA-
In a 2011 study, Media Representations & Impact on the Lives of Black Men and Boys, conducted by The Opportunity Agenda, negative mass media portrayals were strongly linked with lower life expectations among black men.
These portrayals, constantly reinforced in print media, on television, the internet, fiction shows, print advertising and video games, shape public views of and attitudes toward men of color.
They not only help create barriers to advancement within our society, but also “make these positions seem natural and inevitable”.
-HOW TO GET INVOLVED-
@ QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY
Queen's University race and racism expert Anita Jack-Davies is available to comment on the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States.
To arrange an interview, please contact communications officer Anne Craig (613-533-2877 or anne.craig@queensu.ca) or Chris Armes (613-533-6000 ext. 77513 or chris.armes@queensu.ca) at Queen’s University News and Media Services Department in Kingston, Ont., Canada.
QUEEN'S PRIDE
"They have not communicated to the majority of their audience – which is white – a sense of the degradation, misery and hopelessness of life in the ghetto"