We cannot allow Eric Garner's sadly prophetic next words, 'It stops today,' to refer only to his life.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about yesterday's announcement from the Staten Island grand jury is our own surprise at the outcome.
After years of hearing of the killing of unarmed black men by police officers with no accountability and no widespread acknowledgement beyond particular communities that a problem even exists, the news that there would be no criminal liability for the death of a man at the hands of a phalanx of police officers in the course of an "investigation" into the sale of loose cigarettes is just the latest installment in a sad, unending serial about the improper use of force by law enforcement against people of color.
So begins an incredibly important blog post by Dennis Parker, director of the ACLU Racial Justice Poject. Read the entire post here.
