On the night of April 4, 1968, despondent presidential hopeful Sen. Robert F. Kennedy climbed onto the back of a flat-bed truck in the heart of Indianapolis’ Black community, intending to share with the unsuspecting 2000-person crowd the grim news: Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. Instinctively, a heartbroken Kennedy spoke the healing words … Read more
Kevin Bi is a member of the Harvard College Open Data Project. Another unarmed Black man has been killed by the police. His name was George Floyd. The video of a police officer’s brazen cruelty and his utter disregard for the words “I can’t breathe” was shocking, but not new. In March, Breonna Taylor was shot … Read more
Eden Fesseha, Zoë Hopkins and Ife Omidiran work with the Harvard Organization for Prison Education and Advocacy. “Thank you all for the love. This matter is urgent. I have a timeline of April 30.” These were the final words in a letter written by Michael Mauney (aka Country) asking people to call the Massachusetts district … Read more
As I write this, civilians in dozens of American cities are mounting protests against police brutality in response to the murder of George Floyd. Those who experience American society as a liberal democracy have taken these protests as an opportunity to pursue a favorite question: How would we survive without the police? The American liberal … Read more
The mayor of Los Angeles grasped for justification after imposing a curfew last weekend, declaring that “violence and vandalism hurts all.” Woven throughout his trite, state-sanctioned rhetoric is the basic assumption that force against property can be equated with state violence. However, violence against property is a farcical construction. You cannot suffocate a Target, starve … Read more
As COVID-19 rages through the United States, news coverage has focused on the immediate consequences of the pandemic. Networks have been saturated with articles about the need for ventilators, daily new case counts, and comparative descriptions of how — and how well — different countries around the world have handled the crisis. Individual profiles show … Read more
Since the death of George Floyd on May 25, Minnesotans have woken up each day to a changed world. First, when news of Floyd’s death flooded media headlines, the community reacted with grief and outrage as activists quickly organized peaceful protests. Just days later, the sunrise was accompanied by smoldering fires and shattered glass as … Read more
The United States of America is falling apart. Our cities are in flames. Journalists are being arrested on live TV. More of our citizens have died of a horrific disease than those of any other nation. I can see armored national guard vehicles in front of my local shopping center. The world is watching with … Read more
Five days ago, George Floyd, an African American Minneapolis resident, died after being arrested and subjected to lethal violence at the hands of local police officers. Officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground while three other officers stood guard, despite clear evidence that Floyd did not resist arrest. The now-viral video clip shows … Read more
The coronavirus pandemic has tested American government like no crisis before it. In contrast to the national responses launched by most countries, the American response to coronavirus has played out in the shadow of our federal system of government. Conceived by the framers as a bulwark against tyranny, the age-old institution of local decision-making has … Read more