MO - Grief & protests follow shooting of teen Michael Brown #18

[ATasteOfHoney]

What I can't understand is the term "African American" being used. I don't hear Jennifer Lopez described as a "Latin American" or Lisa Ling an "Asian American". Why the distinction? To me an American is an "American". Maybe I just don't like labeling and have never understood/agreed with it. JMO

You bring up a good point, zen compass.
Maybe "diversification" (and all that labeling, grouping, segregating that comes with it) isn't our strength after all.
Maybe our strength lies with "unification" where we are all Americans.
No more boxes to check off about what race or ethnicity we all are---cause once you're here (legally), then it really doesn't matter.

We've had it up to our ears about diversification which I equate to divisiveness.

I believe in living in the here & now, with an eye towards the future. Let's build our society up to a higher standard. Cause it's a bit scary and pathetic now.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

i've been attempting to remember the action verb the witnesses have used - some have left it blank and others have described it as - walking - kinda walking - to running.

hopefully the grand jury will focus on this instead of where his hands were/meaningless.

imo

The slang verb you are searching for is "bumrushing", I believe.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

What I can't understand is the term "African American" being used. I don't hear Jennifer Lopez described as a "Latin American" or Lisa Ling an "Asian American". Why the distinction? To me an American is an "American". Maybe I just don't like labeling and have never understood/agreed with it. JMO

Can I say I'm "Viking American"???

:happydance:

 

[cady]

Can I say I'm "Viking American"???

:happydance:

LOL, sure. I think that we are all byproducts of Africa, insofar as what science tells us about our species JMO I cannot supply the missing link. LOL

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

Too funny, cady.

But seriously, I think it's time for Americans to unite as Americans and as Americans only. Time for this pot to melt already!

 

[Sonya610]

LOL, sure. I think that we are all byproducts of Africa, insofar as what science tells us about our species JMO I cannot supply the missing link. LOL

Many would say the Out of Africa theory is outdated and the Multiregional Evolution theory makes far more sense.

The Out of Africa theory was largely based on the fact the oldest modern human remains were found in Africa, but since then remains have been found in China and other parts of the world.

http://humanorigins.si.edu/research/asian-research/earliest-humans-china

Oldest Modern Human Outside of Africa Found
Chinese fossil challenges traditional early-human time line, study says.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...est-human-fossil-china-out-of-africa-science/

 

[SnoopyDawgDawg]

I don't want the "pot" to melt.

One of the things I love best about the area where I live is its diversity with the richness of many cultures coming together like a beautiful old quilt. But in order for that to work, there must be mutual respect and trust.*

Part of what the angry people of Ferguson are missing, IMO (getting more "obviously" and less "IMO"every day, IMO) is that respect and trust must go both ways. There has to be equal weight in order for the scales of justice to balance, and screaming for OW's head is hardly a balancing act.


*As I typed that, I thought of my son's block which has a group of "visiting back-and-forth neighbors" whose heritages consist of Indians (from India), Native Americans (who prefer to be called "Indian") mixed with Scottish and Armenian (my son and his family), African Americans (who prefer to be called "Black"), and a family of Rednecks (who don't care what you call them as long as they can rev their engines). Mutual respect and trust reigns there...along with a healthy respect for the law (except for the late-night revving engines!)

 

[Elley Mae]

What I can't understand is the term "African American" being used. I don't hear Jennifer Lopez described as a "Latin American" or Lisa Ling an "Asian American". Why the distinction? To me an American is an "American". Maybe I just don't like labeling and have never understood/agreed with it. JMO

bbm Oh I am with you on this, it's so ridiculous that at times I think I am being judged for ordering mashed potatoes instead or fries for goodness sake.

 

[Lovejac]

What I can't understand is the term "African American" being used. I don't hear Jennifer Lopez described as a "Latin American" or Lisa Ling an "Asian American". Why the distinction? To me an American is an "American". Maybe I just don't like labeling and have never understood/agreed with it. JMO

I just absolutely LOVE this post! Thank you!

 

[LambChop]

LOL, sure. I think that we are all byproducts of Africa, insofar as what science tells us about our species JMO I cannot supply the missing link. LOL

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-sea-resident-8000-years-ago/1#.VBWXX37D_VIis true.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/female-ancestor.htm


So basically we are all African Americans. Genetics tells us we all originated from one woman in Africa. The color of our skin and eyes tells us how far north our ancestors migrated.

But, to stay on topic I do not believe this is a race issue other than the police officer was white and the community feels officers use too much deadly force within their community. This is what we should be discussing.

Why do they feel that way????

 

[Lovejac]

bbm sbm

I'm not jumping on ppl for not following RRoO right now, either.

Seems like some educational/informational meetings would be helpful in the community ATM
and some there are organizing meetings toward that end & ppl adjusting expectations/demands.
Like the ppl at city council meeting who wanted/demanded/expected the mayor to go out & arrest Officer DW.
Not gonna happen, no power to do so, no authority, no can do.

Hope that will lead some ppl to understand how to participate in municipal, state, federal gov't processes to influence outcomes.

If you knew better, you'd do better :biggrin: But I'm not very hopeful that would even help. I do wish though that one of their leaders would explain the rules of a council meeting, maybe Maria Chappelle Nadal

The next council meeting is this coming Tuesday, but the word on twitter is that some are going to try to shut it down. But I personally don't thjnk that will happen because too many people want the opportunity to scream and threaten someone and it seems the council members are easy targets IMO

 

[popsicle]

i think i'm looking at the right school calendar - but it's for 2014-2015 - and summer school starts on june 1 and ends june 25.

apparently they have mastered cramming a semester worth of info into 19 days!

http://www.slps.org/calendar

It would be the 2013-2014 school year, which isn't much different until you look at the individual months of June/July. It appears summer school ended July 3. :dunno:

http://www.slps.org/Page/2

 

[Trident]

Many would say the Out of Africa theory is outdated and the Multiregional Evolution theory makes far more sense.

The Out of Africa theory was largely based on the fact the oldest modern human remains were found in Africa, but since then remains have been found in China and other parts of the world.

And, if I remember correctly, some of the Leakey's findings are thought to be fallacious (Lucy???)

:cow:

 

[cady]

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-sea-resident-8000-years-ago/1#.VBWXX37D_VIis true.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/female-ancestor.htm


So basically we are all African Americans. Genetics tells us we all originated from one woman in Africa. The color of our skin and eyes tells us how far north our ancestors migrated.

But, to stay on topic I do not believe this is a race issue other than the police officer was white and the community feels officers use too much deadly force within their community. This is what we should be discussing.

Why do they feel that way????

MY guess is Critical Imbalance of Power...... political, economic, educational power. Seems to me that that is the cause of all rebellions, past present and future. No one knows what event will become the catalyst, but in this case, it was the shooting of Michael Brown, by a Ferguson Cop, in front of witnesses, justified by law or not. JUST MY OPINION.

 

[zencompass]

Well I can tell you first-hand what happened in Canada. In the 1990's there were a lot of gang-related shootings around and in Toronto area. All of the media reported "black youth" every day recounting the murders. After a backlashing from the Canadian public this changed to "a young man" has been arrested or a "young man" has been murdered. Because a "young man" or a "young woman" was involved. There was never any need to report "black youth". It was only generated to "generate" fear of anyone black in that area. I felt so bad for anyone of any age who was black at that time as anyone non-black looked at them in fear and that must have been heart-breaking for anyone black at that time and even now but not so much. As every individual has "free will" we can call ourselves or identify with any affiliation we like but labeling in a generalized way such as by the media is not only wrong I feel it's methodical in some way and has no right in any society. JMO

 

[Trident]

Well I can tell you first-hand what happened in Canada. In the 1990's there were a lot of gang-related shootings around and in Toronto area. All of the media reported "black youth" every day recounting the murders. After a backlashing from the Canadian public this changed to "a young man" has been arrested or a "young man" has been murdered. Because a "young man" or a "young woman" was involved. There was never any need to report "black youth". It was only generated to "generate" fear of anyone black in that area. I felt so bad for anyone of any age who was black at that time as anyone non-black looked at them in fear and that must have been heart-breaking for anyone black at that time and even now but not so much. As every individual has "free will" we can call ourselves or identify with any affiliation we like but labeling in a generalized way such as by the media is not only wrong I feel it's methodical in some way and has no right in any society. JMO

Today, the only time MSM identifies the race of the perp is when they're white. They may think they're fooling people or being PC, but after a while most of us caught on.

I image now-a-days, in Ferguson, people might be a bit leery of one another.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

I don't want the "pot" to melt.

One of the things I love best about the area where I live is its diversity with the richness of many cultures coming together like a beautiful old quilt. But in order for that to work, there must be mutual respect and trust.*


Part of what the angry people of Ferguson are missing, IMO (getting more "obviously" and less "IMO"every day, IMO) is that respect and trust must go both ways. There has to be equal weight in order for the scales of justice to balance, and screaming for OW's head is hardly a balancing act.


*As I typed that, I thought of my son's block which has a group of "visiting back-and-forth neighbors" whose heritages consist of Indians (from India), Native Americans (who prefer to be called "Indian") mixed with Scottish and Armenian (my son and his family), African Americans (who prefer to be called "Black"), and a family of Rednecks (who don't care what you call them as long as they can rev their engines). Mutual respect and trust reigns there...along with a healthy respect for the law (except for the late-night revving engines!)

For me, the "pot melting" **is** for people coming together.
I think we agree on the importance of the main concept but perhaps differ on how to get to it.

Moo

 

[Frydaddy]

The Ferguson Job Fair was a smashing success. 5000 people showed up and they had to extend it an hour.

Awesome, the first positive to come from Mike Brown's death. Rather than exploit his passing like many have done, finally some have realized the best way for communities like Ferguson to go forward is to end the cycle of poverty, crime, and unemployment. Perhaps in small steps, there will be renewed focus on family structure, education, responsibility, and ending race-based finger pointing.

One question I would like to ask Anthony Shahid. Let's say Wilson is indicted, charged, and sentenced to life in prison. Let's say all tickets and fines are forgiven. Let's say the authority in Ferguson is transformed to match the demographics. In other words, every topical complaint in this area is answered to the letter. The question in that hypothetical is, will the issues that plague poor urban communities then suddenly disappear? This, in my opinion, is the question every person supposedly represented by people like Shahid should be asking.

 

[Elley Mae]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_0b73ec58-c6a1-516e-882f-74d18a4246e0.html

Timeline: Four hours after the Michael Brown shooting

12:02 p.m. Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson reports "disturbance in progress" in Canfield Green housing complex.


I didn't realize that OW had reported a disturbance in progress. I may have missed it.

 

[zencompass]

ATasteOfHoney I wholeheartedly agree. It is the uniqueness that each individual has that needs to be honoured. I feel that underneath our individual background histories and dna lives our earthiness which makes up our spirituality unique to each person. What makes me tick may not have made my ancestors tick. It's the sparkle in someone's eye that attracts me and makes me want to know that person better. It's not what he or she is wearing or the colour of their skin. Perhaps it is not even the sparkle but it is something unique to that person and that person alone. This is what I feel needs to be honoured. JMO