In the light of day

Last night was rough for a host of reasons. I could hear sounds of explosions but I can never tell what kind of explosions they are - fireworks, gunfire, I don't know what else.

This morning I realized I do need to compile a list of local radio stations to check. The internet is too dependent on sifting and sorting and who you know, the newspaper too slow. The radio won't be perfect, either, but at least it won't be TV news.

For me personally, this is the first time in my life where I've had the direct thought that it would be utterly futile to call 911*, followed by a thought I have had before, about what it is like for people where this is always true, not just true at one point in time.

It's different to live close enough to directly hear this kind of activity. I have lived in other places with high crime (see: Farmer House, Villa Maria House) but never so close to protest zones.

I also keep thinking: people can't learn if they don't feel safe. This is first and foremost in my mind as an educator. Beyond anything I seek to teach, I have to prioritize safety, whether in the context of infectious disease or in the context of deeply-rooted racism and injustice. So once again I have no choice but to be political and an advocate, and work with others for substantive change.

This is going to be a long summer.


* i.e. how do you call 911 when the noises you're hearing are most likely a clash between protesters and the police?

This morning's wardrobe update

I found this list from the NAACP useful.


I turned in my mail-in ballots this morning, although my votes on the presidential primary ballot are more symbolic than anything. There are school measures and a couple of local elections happening, too. Those votes matter so much more.

It might be time to write a whole bunch of postcards, too.

Some halfway decent reading material, for a change [links]

Thanks to conuly for alerting me to the marshallprojectemail_feed email RSS feed.

A history of recent police reform efforts in Minnesota, which highlights specific things that need to change: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/28/before-george-floyd-s-death-minneapolis-police-failed-to-adopt-reforms-remove-bad-officers

Note, for example, that stuff has gotten stalled in the state legislature. Write to your politicians.

Why police are handling protests wrong, which explains a lot about protest dynamics: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/06/01/why-so-many-police-are-handling-the-protests-wrong

And oh, look, back in 1967 we already had evidence that in about 50% of situations, it's police escalation that was pivotal in starting the riot across 24 riots. Positive feedback loops.

Interesting to see the role of the 1999 WTO protests in it all.

Here's an article that was very graciously written by someone handed the inappropriate burden of explaining some things to white people: https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2017/09/08/my-white-friend-asked-me-on-facebook-to-explain-white-privilege-i-decided-to-be-honest/

And from the NYT:

Hmm, let's see, which countries seem to be the most on the struggle bus when it comes to control of the 'rona? https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/briefing/coronavirus-populist-leaders.html

And now, more on the 'rona: What we know, what we don't know, ways to monitor/conceptualize it, and what to think about when deciding whether or not to hop on airplanes and cavort across the country.

What we know. https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-facts-history.html

Don't know. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/health/coronavirus-mysteries.html

Track them numbers!* https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/23/upshot/five-ways-to-monitor-coronavirus-outbreak-us.html

Shall we jet-set? https://www.erinbromage.com/post/flying-in-the-age-of-covid-19

Just one teeny-weeny caveat: airplane travel is still horrible for the environment in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. So keep on keeping in touch with your Zoomies. I know it isn't the same, believe me, but it turns out the whole world doesn't revolve around you or any of the other 7-billion-plus people who live here.




*I decided a couple weeks ago to just track the numbers reported for my county for now. I don't find broader-scale numbers that useful.