This week I got very mad at the Washington Post for sharing a document intended to provide the police with an exculpatory narrative in the case of Freddie Gray. On Freddie Gray, the Washington Post, and Journalism We afford the police a lot of respect in terms of creating narratives. I think that has to stop….
Larry Backer is a named law professor at Penn State and a former chair of the Faculty Senate. These credentials matter, because when he attacks the faux system of shared governance at Penn State, as he does in this blog post, it might get taken seriously. The piece is a long discussion of a recent…
The world of comics, from Hollywood to the toys you buy for infants, is packs with sexism. Last January, I shared a letter from and 11-year-old girl to DC Comics, asking them to merchandise more girl-related products. The letter went viral. Now DC has released the “Hero Girls,” a pretty great line of products. They…
Reporter: what will prevent another Freddie Gray? Mosby: Accountability. R:There hasn’t been any for so long. Mosby:You’re getting it now. — stacia l. brown (@slb79) May 1, 2015 Here’s the video. Short version – charges against all 6 officers. Cultural change is slow – whether inside police culture or America’s culture. But accountability is a…
UPDATE: I am leaving the essay below as is. I am increasingly persuaded by my smart interlocutors that the correct response to these kinds of essays is to offer empathy to the mother and to tell one’s own story as best one can in one’s own spaces. Thanks for all the feedback. Websites and newspapers…
The Washington Post has published a report based on a leaked document. We don’t know who leaked it to them. In it, a prisoner who was placed in the police van some time after Freddie Gray was restrained, claims that he heard banging from Gray’s compartment. At no time did this anonymous prisoner see Gray. That’s…
In 2010, Jeremy Hutton, a 17 year-old-boy with Down syndrome, was shot by a police officer who claimed Hutton was driving right at him. That claim held up in the post-incident review. Here’s a video showing that’s untrue (original source), the officer was safely to the side. A video of police shooting a car driven…
Remember my lessons for apology: Lesson 1: When you screw up, and you will screw up, own it. Apologize. Try not to do it again. Lesson 2: No one is entitled to have their apology accepted. Lesson 3: On the other hand, one mistake (rather than a pattern of repeated bad behavior) can become an…
Dear Adjunct, Part-Time, and/or Contingent Faculty, I’d like to know how you were hired. Was there a public call for positions or were you just contacted by someone in your network – a friend, a patron, a colleague, a mentor? You can let me know through comments here, on social media, or via email. I’m…
Welcome to Sunday. I had three essays and five blog posts published this week. I filed an essay for the Chronicle, sent out a lot of pitches, and am waiting on edits for a feature. I’m also revising a book proposal and, someday, hope to be able to announce something about that. I’d like you…