It's so weird that I see "Don't Tread On Me" stickers right next to the "Thin Blue Line" stickers on almost every pick-up truck around here...who do they think will be treading on them? So weird...
SER, I don't know what to say, exactly, but I want to say it to you. I wrote about Ahmaud Arbery a bunch last week, and it cost me a lot. The emotional work was intense. And I've written before about other black people getting killed, and it cost me a lot.
When I saw this story yesterday, I read two articles and I stopped. Those articles didn't even have all the answers to question is I had. Neither was clear, for instance, on whether Kenneth Walker had been released from jail yet. One wasn't even vague about what he was arrested for. It said nothing whatsoever about the basis for his arrest. The other was merely vague, saying he was arrested because of his response to officers at the scene. Which, okay? What does that mean? And I could have sought answers, but reading the neutral-sounding bullshit that camouflages police apologetics in media was too much. So I stopped reading because I knew I could get decent answers the next day at Wonkette in a form that wouldn't completely overwhelm me with rage and grief. And I even knew who would write the story. And so I stopped reading that other shit, not just because it was painful, but because I could.
And you can't. This is your job. And you had to read it, read more than I did, anyway. And you had to keep thinking about it, and you had to translate it into language that was less damaging to the rest of us than all the bullshit written by all the journalists who have so fucking badly covered this story for two months. TWO FUCKING MONTHS it took for even people like me who care about these things and who seek out these stories to get the word. That's terrible journalism, and now you're stuck making up for the failures of an entire industry.
So I'm making a donation later today when I get my shit together, but that's not enough. I have to also say, that I see you. I see the work that you do and the work that you make it possible for me not to do. And I cry for Taylor and for Walker, but right now I'm crying for you. And I don't know what helps you through this, but I hope you have pints of it in your freezer and hours of it in your day and miles of it under your feet and petabytes of it at your fingertips.
I know this doesn't end soon, and I know this doesn't end easily, and I know that the revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox in 4 parts without commercial interruption. I know you have to keep doing the work.
What I have to do is say, I hope to Black Jesus you're okay. I hope you have what you need to get through. Selfishly I hope that because what you do is valuable to me. Generously I hope that because what you are is beautiful to me.
Oh, SER. Be well. Be as well as you damn can in this fucked up world.
I consider Radley Balko's Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces to be one of the essential books for understanding modern life in this country.
"Not only is [Walker] a threat to the men and women of law enforcement,"
If a cop killed my girlfriend right under my nose, you bet I would be a threat to people in uniform.
If any union deserves busting up, it's police unions. It seems like all they do is take up for shitty cops.
Weird! It’s almost like cops don’t give a shit about mistakenly shooting and killing innocent black folks. So weird! Except not so weird.
It's so weird that I see "Don't Tread On Me" stickers right next to the "Thin Blue Line" stickers on almost every pick-up truck around here...who do they think will be treading on them? So weird...
SER, I don't know what to say, exactly, but I want to say it to you. I wrote about Ahmaud Arbery a bunch last week, and it cost me a lot. The emotional work was intense. And I've written before about other black people getting killed, and it cost me a lot.
When I saw this story yesterday, I read two articles and I stopped. Those articles didn't even have all the answers to question is I had. Neither was clear, for instance, on whether Kenneth Walker had been released from jail yet. One wasn't even vague about what he was arrested for. It said nothing whatsoever about the basis for his arrest. The other was merely vague, saying he was arrested because of his response to officers at the scene. Which, okay? What does that mean? And I could have sought answers, but reading the neutral-sounding bullshit that camouflages police apologetics in media was too much. So I stopped reading because I knew I could get decent answers the next day at Wonkette in a form that wouldn't completely overwhelm me with rage and grief. And I even knew who would write the story. And so I stopped reading that other shit, not just because it was painful, but because I could.
And you can't. This is your job. And you had to read it, read more than I did, anyway. And you had to keep thinking about it, and you had to translate it into language that was less damaging to the rest of us than all the bullshit written by all the journalists who have so fucking badly covered this story for two months. TWO FUCKING MONTHS it took for even people like me who care about these things and who seek out these stories to get the word. That's terrible journalism, and now you're stuck making up for the failures of an entire industry.
So I'm making a donation later today when I get my shit together, but that's not enough. I have to also say, that I see you. I see the work that you do and the work that you make it possible for me not to do. And I cry for Taylor and for Walker, but right now I'm crying for you. And I don't know what helps you through this, but I hope you have pints of it in your freezer and hours of it in your day and miles of it under your feet and petabytes of it at your fingertips.
I know this doesn't end soon, and I know this doesn't end easily, and I know that the revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox in 4 parts without commercial interruption. I know you have to keep doing the work.
What I have to do is say, I hope to Black Jesus you're okay. I hope you have what you need to get through. Selfishly I hope that because what you do is valuable to me. Generously I hope that because what you are is beautiful to me.
Oh, SER. Be well. Be as well as you damn can in this fucked up world.
Thank you, and be well.
Thanks! I appreciate the kind words.
I'm sure the NRA and the brave Second Amendment patriots will be coming out in support of Walker any time now. Right?
Was it a socialist outboard motor?
He is a public employee. He needs to be called out.
Like the Deputy, it's an Ever Rude.
(Sorry. Not sorry.)
Thank you, CD, for writing this. It is most powerful and a reminder to us all of the hard job the staff does for us each day.
Is the NRA even still in business?
Donald Trump: "Well, too bad. I need a well-done steak, with ketchup. Now where's my valet…"
You deserve them, you teach us all with humor and grace, when you must be screaming inside. Please, add my thank you as well.
Safe to say they will be socially distancing themselves from this particular case, because reasons.
I consider Radley Balko's Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces to be one of the essential books for understanding modern life in this country.