@kodacohen: Mother of #MichaelBrown speaks out in #Ferguson
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Morning everyone.
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14
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Morning Nospin, morning everyone.
GM Nospin. Landing here first, I see. Stay strong. :star:
That cheek was not even bruised. This appeared to be nothing more than [maybe] a mild case of Rosacea. Another photo of Darren taken before than incident shows the same redness in areas of both cheeks. That is his usual appearance.
Good Tuesday, Chipsticks…TOD Family.
My prayers go out to the family of Michael Brown. I am hopeful that calmer emotions will prevail, that peaceful protests will be the norm, and that those who are only there to take advantage and make trouble will stay away. While there is cause for anger, acting out of anger will do more harm than good.
Stay hopeful and press forward.
I am so grateful for the TOD community.
Chips and NW, you just don’t know how much you mean to me. Especially during times like these.
Thank you.
{{{{Nospin}}}} Thank you
Chips, this cannot be expressed enough. I do hope you realize just how important it is to have this comforting place. We are forever grateful to you, the BTs and each other for this sanctuary.
yes…i echo the sentiments of nospin and others …i give my heartfelt love and thanks to MsChips and the Legendary NW as well as the other members of the incredible TOD village…i have come here to celebrate joyous and momentous occasions….i also come her …like last night and early am to share my outrage and my grief…to share the pain and my tears….
i thank you…more than you know
Thanks so much, Nospin.
Last night was horrible and heartrending. Sending you comforting vibes today.
Morning dear Ms Chips! Sad day for America. Outrageous verdict. Hope everyone has a good day in spite of this awful miscarriage of justice.
So glad there is Chips and everyone here at TOD. I feel such a deep, inconsolable sadness. Winter is coming way too soon…
meta - I can’t stop crying.
I feel the same way. I weep for a nation that believes in violence more than investing in the future of all our children.
And seeing the anguish on his mom’s face…devastating.
my heart breaks for the parents of Michael and for Tamir Rice. Especially knowing that until we admit there is a problem we cannot address the problem and fix the problem. Which includes holding these folks accountable.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cleveland-police-shooting-boy-with-fake-gun-dies-after-being-shot-by-ohio-officer-9878700.html
Good Morning TODVille.
Waking up to the reality: it wasn’t a nightmare what happened last night.
….
They knew there would be rioting - especially after that bullshit press conference where the DA all but indicted Michael Brown (God rest your soul, young man) for lying dead and congesting up a street.
They counted on it.
They announced the grand jury opinion at 8:00 pm instead of 8:00 am. They didn’t want their decision announced in the early morning hours with a day full of media questions as to what evidence was applied to what. They want no attention, no questions, on the process. So, they released the actual “evidence” and the “decision” long after the hard news shows ended.
They wanted their handsome, suited and fine tied, white DA to stand up before the country and announce how wonderful a job they’d done and how it was all so terribly complicated and terribly sad and how terrible all those witnesses were. And then cut to the crowd scene.
They wanted rioting.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/24/1347259/-They-Support-Wilson#
Morning TODers. I almost hated to get up this morning because I didn’t want to see what new outrages had taken place in Ferguson. Like SW, I hope all protests going forward remain calm, focused and purposeful. Violence feeds into the hands of the racists-it’s the excuse for massive retaliation they’re looking for. Pray for the reputation of the US around the world which has now been seriously damaged. We no longer have any standing to speak on behalf of justice or human rights. Please keep our UN representatives and embassy staff safe from harm as they, too, confront regional anger at US injustice. Thanks to TOD, we all have a haven of sanity in an insane and ugly world. Bless you Chips for creating this place and to you, Nerdy and all your BTs for keeping on and moving forward.
” Violence feeds into the hands of the racists”
even when there is no violence the they are still fed so…
Yes, no spin, but this particular event was carefully orchestrated to produce the violent result that actually occurred. They took their time to create the maximum outrage and breaking point so the focus would be on the protestors and not on them.
Morning, TOD. First, I want to echo many others in my thanks to Chips, NW (and others) for providing this oasis for us. I honestly don’t think I could get through this w/out this community. Second, terrible misjustice. Just one of the reasons that I not longer say the last six words of the Pledge of Allegience-“with liberty and justice for all.” Stopped at that point long time ago.
We WILL get through this. So thankful for PO and AG Holder. Praises and blessings for them.
This is my food pantry day, then my daughter and her family will arrive around 1:00.
I must say that the cynic — and perhaps the realist - in me, like many, had no doubt of what the grand jury’s verdict would be. We have witness *WEEKS* of planning that was done in “anticipation” of such an event. THAT was an indication that there would be no indictment because those in control were making sure that would be the case. In my cynicism, I note that there is a concerted effort to contain the protest and keep the violence in certain areas…no way will protests be allowed to spill over into the affluent areas. [To me, it is similar to how immigration reform is being handled; how the U.S. can be humanitarians, as long as those in need are not on U.S. soil.]
The cynic in me feels that the leadership in St. Louis County welcomes the attention. They deliberately put in place the catalyst to insure a reaction that they could point to and say, “See! We are justified in doing what we do. It’s not us that’s keeping them down. They keep themselves down.” And of course, let’s take advantage of the boost to our economy from all the people -especially media- who will be here to be a part of or be able to give a first-hand account of the drama that they have produced and are directing.
That’s not being a cynic, SW, that’s being a realist. That is precisely what happened.
Not only did the police and so-called prosecutor want to provoke violence, they deliberately took their time about the GJ over the last several months to turn Mike Brown into the guilty one and not the victim. This was all carefully orchestrated since day one and unfortunately people played into their hands last night. Whatever the corrupt media reports, we, the people, have to see the truth and keep repeating it. Unfortunately, as one of the DK commenters notes, McCullough was actually re-elected for another four-year term last August. There will be NO relief in sight for St. Louis County residents because the police now know they will ALWAYS be exonerated no matter what they do.
unless the people decide they have had enough.
Even in this particular moment of human despair I truly believe this time is going to be different.
I’m starting to suspect that Wilson was on some kind of drug or is mentally ill when he killed Michael Brown because in his testimony Brown looked like a demon? That sounds like delusional thinking or schizophrenia.
It says more about Wilson than what actually occurred.
I’m now 100% cynical, agree with NCLB and JackieG that what happened in Ferguson was deliberately staged by McCullogh and Nixon to provoke the maximum rage.
I fully expect that undercover StL PD taught underground white racist groups (aka 2014 KKK) on the best ways to ignite cars and torch buildings.
I would like to know if Wilson was drug tested immediately after. If not, why not???
Nope. There shouldn’t be any excuses to justify what Wilson did or give him any loophole. He wasn’t mentally ill or on some kind of drug. He was coached by an army of lawyers on how to lie, lie, and lie some more about the events that took place before appearing before the grand jury.
That wasn’t someone who was afraid for his life, or mentally ill, or on drugs. That is a racist who murdered a Black child.
“That wasn’t someone who was afraid for his life, or mentally ill, or on drugs. That is a racist who murdered a Black child.”
THIS
Black = Scary = Evil. Not a reach for a paranoid racist. He doesn’t need to be considered insane or incapacitated. He murdered someone he wanted to murder.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/here-are-transcripts-and-audio-darren-wilsons-grand-jury-hearing
Adding to the hurt of the family is learning that your 17-year-old child “looked like a demon” in his killer’s eyes. And that is why he deserved to be killed like a mad dog.
Good morning all. I rarely post but I had to this morning. As you see I live in Barbados but I am Jamaican and am therefore a West Indian. Why is this significant because I have two sisters and a brother in the US one sister who lives in New York has a son who is twenty years old and I have numerous friends from the West Indies with sons who live in various parts of the US. I cried last night when I heard the outcome. I cried for them. I often call my sister and remind her to speak to her son. He is a regular 20 year old, he goes to college, he wears his cap backwards, he goes to the cinema with his friend, he does the things that you would expect them to do at that age. When I read of these killings my heart hurts for all young men in the US who may not grow up to live their dreams. What next?
And don’t forget that by Wednesday, we are all supposed to forget everything and go out and shop like fiends so that corporate giants can rake in huge profits this week. Not only are we supposed to eat dirt and accept it, we’re supposed to empty our pockets for them. Sometimes I feel so sick of it all, I want to throw up.
Our collective despair from Nov 4 creeps back.
For me, yesterday was uncontrollable rage, today I’m coping with cynicism.
I’ll choose hope over fear, but not just yet.
I never shop on black Friday. Being a pagan I celebrate Christmas in a different way.
I have a lot of mixed feelings today. First g’morning TOD, not that it is good by any measure. Thank you Chips & NW for keeping the doors open here at all times, under all circumstances.
I can’t tell a town how to grieve. First I’m just not a true believer in anything Ferguson PD says or does.. thus I don’t know who burned stores, cop cars; etc. I would be surprised if it wasn’t the police themselves who instigated every instance of violence- perhaps out of uniform undercover. I just know they cannot be trusted. period. Second.. the fact the protestors held their anger in check and managed for over 100 days to protest non-violently tells me to trust those protestors over any cops. Not only can’t I tell a town how not to grieve.. if in fact some folks resorted to violence to express their loss.. I cannot tell any person how to grieve. There is not one person there who doesn’t know quite clearly the consequences of any actions they take. It was a horror show to lose this young man in the manner he was lost: murdered by a cop, someone who is defined by a job that literally tells us he/she is there to “serve and protect” all of us. He is murdered in broad daylight, he is left to rot in the sun- so that every single citizen is clearly made to see that he- they do not matter as human beings. Then they are collectively told to wait.. to hang in there, ’cause justice will prevail..’trust us’. And they wait, and the stay calm… and they trust, even just a little- keeping that flame of almighty hope still lit. Even with all the preparations with weapons & regalia - in full sight of the world these past few days- we all still foolishly had a glimmer of hope that right would win out. Then we were treated- they in Ferguson most horrifically- to this spectacle of inhumanity by that Prosecutor. And we say.. be calm, it doesn’t help to turn violent. Well it helped Darren Wilson. So I can’t tell anyone how to grieve.
More info on the arrests.
Sarah Kendzior retweeted
(austin_walker) @austin_walker · 8h8 hours ago
When Darren Wilson says he saw Mike Brown as “a demon,” the problem isn’t with his eyes, it’s with what America told him demons look like.
I can only hope that we will see some vindication from the Federal and FBI investigations. McCulloch, Nixon, et al basically snubbed their noses at the Michael Brown’s parents, the citizens, of Ferguson…all of us. They had an “in your face” attitude about this whole investigation and had media support to rub it in. I’m sure all involved in orchestrating this travesty think they are Teflon-coated and expect to walk away with, at most, what amounts to a slap on the wrist. I hope the Fed’s/FBI’s findings will allow AG Holder to mete out the justice deserved.
R&S
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/11/25/rise-and-shine-964/
Delurking to say this…………
“Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims, have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.”
“This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. In the light of these ideas, Negroes will be hunted at the North, and held and flogged at the South so long as they submit to those devilish outrages, and make no resistance, either moral or physical. Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must certainly pay for all they get. If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be, by our lives and the lives of others.”
― Frederick Douglass
No matter how many tales are told about Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger, the Boogeyman, and recently Dandy Mott and Twisty the Clown, know that these are works of fiction. The REAL American Horror Story we have always lived with. Black men and women never had to read Bram Stoker or Mary Shelley to be scared. We live one hell of a scary story.
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