Could this be considered a #Restorative response in the face of an entirely broken and unjust system? I think this exercise, this project is quite valuable and can be replicated in communities across the country. Its quite simple in its approach, and elegant, in fact. The peoples prosecutors insisted that it was not Darren Wilson alone who was on trial, so to speak, that he didnt act alone, that he was part of an institution that has a long history of abusing black people. And, for example, the leaving of Michael Browns body in the street, uncovered for four hours in that searing heat, can be compared to lynching practices of the past, in which, of course, the body was displayed in order to strike terror into the black community. And, also, the guilt, the complicity in this particular crime should be shared by the prosecutor and the rest of the political establishment in St. Louis and the nation at large, because the prosecutor himself, McCulloch, turned his grand jury, which was his tool, as all grand juries are the tools of prosecutors, turned it into a vehicle for a whitewash of the Police Department, but also to defame and criminalize Michael Brown as the whole system is designed to defame and criminalize black people. And I think its quite interesting that we learned recently that one of the McCullochs official grand jurors is now suing to be allowed to speak out. And he or she--we dont know the identity of this grand juror, because its against the law for them to go public; thats the reason for the suit, which is being aided by the ACLU. That grand juror says essentially what activists have been saying, that what went on in that grand jury room needs to be unveiled to the public, that it was heavily weighted in favor of the police and against the victim. I think on the political side that these peoples grand juries--and it could be expanded to peoples boards of inquiries--are great tools for preventing the dissipation and diversion of black peoples and all decent peoples righteous anger at the behavior of the police by allowing these emotions to be diverted into the same institutions that sustain this black mass incarceration state. And it also allows folks to get around, to bypass these elements of the black mis-leadership class that are part of those same structures, that are part of the elected and appointed leadership that upholds these institutions, that in the end work to maintain the status quo. This is the way for the people to speak directly and for people to share their understanding of what the real status of black folks in this society is, especially regarding the police. And all that is absolutely necessary if were really going to build a sustainable movement for genuine community control of police, an exercise in real black self-determination.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 15:21:42 +0000
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