Part of the Series
Moyers and Company
Three months have passed since Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, and this week the community there is nervously awaiting the grand jury’s decision whether to indict Police Officer Darren Wilson. On Monday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and issued an executive order to activate the National Guard to act as a backup to police in case protests get out of control.
How exactly did we get here? We recommend you watch this video animation by artist and activist Molly Crabapple. She beautifully illustrates the story of Mike Brown and the activism his death inspired. Crabapple highlights the history of police brutality and also recounts the details of other black men who have died recently at the hands of authorities, including Eric Gardner in New York and John Crawford in Ohio.
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We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
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