Thoughts on Ferguson

A Missouri grand jury refused to indict a police patrolman in the shooting of Mike Brown, a black man. Now, there are riots and protests happening all over the country.

Darren Wilson, the police patrolman, said in a testimony that Mr.Brown aggressively laid his hands on Wilson while the officer was still in his cruiser, alone. Mr.Brown isn't here to tell his side of the story. I was shocked when I found out there were so many people defending Wilson. It's just hard to believe that Wilson needed to shoot Mike Brown more than five times on order to defend himself. It makes you think he must have had underlying rage. Even if they were both the same race, it's the police patrolman's job to ensure the safety of the unarmed individual rather than put an obscene amount of bullets in him. One shot to the leg would've sufficed. This is why it's become a race problem.

Although some of the protests are a bit extreme they're very necessary. You can't expect people to accept this and stay quiet. We need to raise awareness and encourage people to speak up for those who don't have a voice.

This isn't just about Mike Brown, it's about racism. It's about respecting all life. It's about black kids feeling like their lives matter and are just as valuable as everyone else's. It's not just about one person; it's about the ugly face of racism.

Book Club Post 11/19

After finishing the book I noticed many changes in Laura Hillenbrand's writing style. At first, she relied on quotes and recalling personal events and in the third part of the book the story becomes more fact based. She does a fantastic job of being historically accurate. I found myself losing interest because there were too many details of battles and other events. It started to sound more like a history textbook than a profile on Louis Zamperini.

I would definitely say that this book is a profile, but one thing I noticed was how the story changed from a profile to an essay of place. In the second and third parts, Laura Hillenbrand is describing the situation during World War II and being a prisoner of war in Japanese prisons. The focus turns away from Louis and becomes more about his surroundings.

Death of a Playmate

After reading this piece, I can see how a magazine feature allows for more creativity and it has less of a strict structure. I had trouble following the story because of the way it was set up, but the writing was easy to follow. At times the story wasn't engaging and it was very long. Teresa Carpenter used multiple quotes. I didn't always feel like they added to the story. She was also able to include other people's thoughts on certain issues. Carpenter unveiled a side of Dorothy not many had seen before and talked about problems with her marriage. The topic was interesting, but I enjoyed reading "Pearls Before Breakfast" more.