We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Police in Utah kill more people than gang members do

Click here to access article by German Lopez from Vox.
There's not much reliable data on how often police kill civilians nationwide. As my colleague Dara Lind explained, the data collected by the FBI on police shootings should be treated as a minimum count, since it's voluntary and therefore incomplete. But the data does give a good idea of who is targeted by police — and there are some clear racial disparities.
I also recommend this article accurately entitled "Corporate-Fascist America: Former Philadelphia Police Captain Says Cops Are Mercenaries for Corporations".