Quote of the Day

Young black men in our nation are, and I use this word with purpose and the pain it entails, routinely gunned down by the police with no repercussions. Once every 28 hours. None of this is new. What is new is that we as a nation are noticing. The brave response of communities in Missouri and New York and around the nation have made policing and race an issue that no American of conscience can continue to ignore.

. . . The racial division that is acutely visible in America today is an opening, an opportunity for partnership, and in this partnership my role is service. I will support the leaders at the forefront of one of the most important human rights flashpoints in our country's history. It is an honorable and critically important role. It is how I will not be neutral at this historic moment.

– Todd Paglia
Excerpted from "The Post-Ferguson World: Rules for White People"
The Huffington Post
December 22, 2014

Related Off-site Links:
Racism And Unchecked Police Violence: An American Epidemic – Frederick Reese (Mint Press News, October 14, 2014).
Angela Davis: "There Is An Unbroken Line of Police Violence in the U.S. That Takes Us All the Way Back to the Days of Slavery" – Stuart Jeffries (The Guardian, December 14, 2014).
What White People Need to Know, and Do, After Ferguson – Sally Kohn (The Washington Post, November 28, 2014).
The False Choice of Protesting for Justice and Supporting Our Police – Paul Brandeis Raushenbush (The Huffington Post, December 21, 2014).
The Problem With Blaming Black Crime for Police Shootings – Steve Chapman (Reason.com, December 8, 2014).
Nine Terrifying Facts About America’s Biggest Police Force – Tana Ganeva and Laura Gottesdiener (AlterNet via Salon, September 28, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• At the Mall of America Today, a Necessary Disruption to "Business as Usual"
• Rallying in Solidarity with Eric Garner and Other Victims of Police Brutality
• Quote of the Day – November 25, 2014
• Thoughts on Prayer in a "Summer of Strife"
• Quote of the Day – July 13, 2013

Image: A demonstrator at last Saturday's Black Lives Matter rally at the Mall of America holds a sign with the first names of young black men recently killed by police. (Photo: Aaron Lavinsky/Associated Press)