Bay Area Shooting

Several weeks ago in the Bay Area a man was shot by police officers after he was detained on the platform of subway stop. What’s most shocking about the shooting is that the man was completely incapacitated by the police officers when he was shot. (He was face-down with two officers above him; one officer had his knee on his neck and the officer who fired his gun stepped back and shot him in the back while he was on the ground). Californians protested the killing last Wednesday night and riots eventually broke out in downtown Oakland. Here’s a NY Times article on last week’s events:

New York Times article

We’re sharing this event because it’s a classic AS artifact. While it might be easy to accept or disseminate a highly biased telling of this narrative, we need to ask ourselves these questions: why was the man shot? What’s his story? What are the police officers’ stories? Where’s bias in the video that captured the shooting? Of the various news reports? Where do these narratives intersect to reveal the truth?

And more importantly, this example connects with our unit on Agency and Oppression. How was this man oppressed? How are his family and friends oppressed? How will individuals attempt to turn this into an opportunity for agency? How have community members sought agency in this tragedy? Is protesting a meaningful way of asserting agency? What about rioting?

And lastly, we need to ask this question: did the man’s race impact the fact that he was shot? Would this have happened if he weren’t black? While this question might seem to blatantly insert race into this discussion (a move Americans frequently criticize) I’d argue it’s a fair and obvious question given our country’s history of violence towards blacks. Dodging the question would simply avoid a crucial aspect of this narrative.

Here’s a clip of the video captured by a bystander on a cell phone, and as a disclaimer, it’s graphic, so don’t watch if you think it will be too disturbing.

Blog Moratorium

Hey there - Just reminding you all that we'll take a break from blogging the next three weeks. As of Monday, December 15th, you should have three posts and one comment since our last blog check on November 17th.

You won't need to post again until we return from winter break.

No TV???

When the Chicago area was inundated with rain one weekend months ago, our roof leaked and water dripped onto our TV, ruining it. Since then, we have gone without television in our house. I know what you may be thinking--how are we able to live??? But I've found that the essential things I want from TV can be gotten in other ways--I get news from the web, I catch episodes of my favorite shows online and rent DVDs, I listen to Bears games on WBBM. I've found that much of what I used to watch on TV I hardly miss, and I often wonder how I ever had time to watch so much TV. Much of what Thoreau suggests in Walden seems like it couldn't possibly work, but what if we tried it? How much of what we consider "essential" would become irrelevant?

Do we embrace simplicity at NT?

In class today we’ll map out a “typical” New Trier student’s day in order to explore the question posed in the title of this blog post. As you read Thoreau the next week or so, look closely at his ideas on simplifying life and getting in touch with the true necessities and juxtapose his ideas against your typical day at school. Do any of his thoughts resonate with you?

You may also want to set up a time (middle of the day, perhaps?) to complete one of your Transcendentalism maxims so you can accurately evaluate HDT’s ideas in light of how they apply to your life in a typical school day.

And lastly, here’s a Times article on Americans trying to simplify their lives: New York Times.

Can you see yourselves doing this someday?

Emeeeeeeerson Reading Progress?

Now that you've spent some time doing some "deep reading" with Emerson, what are your thoughts on this type of heavy, dense reading? Does it feel extra difficult in light of Nicholas Carr's assertion that digital texts make it more difficult for us to appreciate long, sustained reading? (Carr is the guy who wrote the article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Remember him?)

One way to make sense of difficult texts is to share your thoughts on reading strategies. In the next week, post a quick comment to this blog post, a thought on a reading strategy you've found useful for reading R.W.E.

Keep being deep readers, folks. (By the way, is Emerson even reading the book in this picture? Maybe he's in a transcendental state...)

"I have no expectation that any man will read history aright..."

Remember this quote above? It should look familiar (it is, after all, on our blog). Here it is again in full:

I have no expectation that any man will read history aright, who thinks that what was done in a remote age, by men whose names have resounded far, has any deeper sense than what he is doing to-day.

As you all know by now, something happened last night that will resound through history books for the rest of your lives. And as Emerson argues in the quote above, what happened yesterday is history, and you all lived it.

And it's appropriate we celebrate both candidates by giving Senator McCain the stage, too. McCain delivered a magnanimous concession speech in which he identified the historic nature of the recent election. In case you missed it, here it is:

Senator McCain

Tuesday Night Preparation

Early this week we'll continue our discussion of the election by having you visit the New York Times interactive Electoral College map. Here's the link:

Map

The nice thing about the map is if you click on the link titled "Your map" you'll be able to change which states vote red or blue and see the results in Electoral College votes. This website helps illustrate how the process works (a nice connection to the Constitution) and it will also help you anticipate what you should look for as you watch the results Tuesday night. Have fun!