Days 1,2,3 in painful-to-watch trial

911 Dispatcher Jena Scurry explaining why she reported
use of force to police sergeant

"Today I look at you as a maggot," said Charles McMillian to Derek Chauvin as the ambulance left with George Floyd's body.  

On Day 3 of the trial, he testified that he had said to Derek Chauvin five days before May 25, 2020, "I'm going to respect you.  At the end of the day, you go home safe to your family, and the next person go home to his family safe."  

But after witnessing the murder, he immediately told Chauvin that his view had changed; he now saw him as a maggot.

He said these words after having been polite to the officers for an hour, trying to intervene and save George Floyd's life.

McMillian's education ended after third grade, but morally and as a human, he was miles ahead of any of the officers who showed up.

Darnella Frazier, a passerby entering Cup Foods with her little cousin, was the star of the second day.  Here's an excerpt from the New York Times report on Day 2 of the trial.

As her voice cracked, Ms. Frazier described how what she witnessed that day last May had changed her life. She sometimes lies awake at night, she said, “apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life.”

“When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad,” she added. “I look at my brothers. I look at my cousins, my uncles because they are all Black. I have a Black father. I have a Black brother. I have Black friends. And I look at that, and I look at how that could have been one of them.”

This trial is riveting, heartbreaking for anyone who is human. 

It's also triggering for anyone who is Black.  It calls up fears and memories of police violence, whether personally experienced or through friends or news events such as the Rodney King beating.

"I've been avoiding it all week," said Baratunde Thurston, a writer, comedian, and commentator.

A black friend says she is not able to watch the trial; it's too painful.  She expects it to end with Chauvin getting little or no jail time.

As a white person, I'm able to watch it, but even for me the testimony and video are horrific.

Prosecutors Jerry Blackwell and Erin Eldridge, we're depending on you.

Testifying on Day 1:

911 dispatcher Jena Scurry, who called the police dept. sergeant to report the mishandling.

"Something might be wrong," she testified.  "I became concerned... My instincts were telling me that something was wrong...  I took that instinct, and I called the sergeant."

Passerby Donald Williams, a mixed martial arts fighter and an expert on chokeholds.  He said that the type of chokehold Derek Williams was using is called a "blood choke, a tactic that hinders air circulation from the head to the rest of the body."  He felt that George Floyd was murdered and called the police on the police immediately afterward.  He was cross-examined on Day 2.

From the Minneapolis StarTribune:  As Williams watched the viral video shot by a fellow bystander, he told the court that Chauvin was shifting his weight on purpose repeatedly to tighten the hold on Floyd's neck, what the witness called a "shimmy." At one point, he said Floyd was trying to fight "through the torture."

See also video of Day1 of the trial 

https://www.startribune.com/witness-derek-chauvin-purposely-shifted-weight-to-add-pressure-on-george-floyd-s-neck/600039838/

Testifying on Day 2:

Darnella Frazier, a passerby was asked by the prosecuting attorney, "How did this event change your life?"  See her answer above.

Darnella's 9-year-old cousin also testified very movingly.

Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty fire fighter and paramedic, urged police to stop choking him and check his pulse.  They ignored her. During her cross-examination, this exchange took place (as reported in the Washington Post):

When [defense counsel] Nelson asked whether Hansen would describe the “demeanor” of others around her as “upset or angry,” Hansen gave a cutting response: “I don’t know if you’ve seen anybody be killed, but it’s upsetting.”

There was murmuring.

The judge reprimanded her for arguing with the defense lawyer's question.  She continued testimony on Day 2.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/george-floyd-witness-darnella-frazier.html

Testifying on Day 3:

Passerby Charles McMillian (see above). 

Christopher Martin, 19-yr-old cashier who challenged the $20 bill and is grieving over having told his manager, who called the police.

Video excerpts of Day 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCFKQBo8j_Y

CNN report on Day 3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/31/charles-mcmillian-chauvin-trial/

"Biblical womanhood" isn't biblical

Photo courtesy of Dallas News

This op-ed by Beth Allison Barr stopped me in my tracks as I started reading. 

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2021/01/17/the-women-in-the-bible-do-not-match-the-evangelical-vision-of-biblical-womanhood/

"The deliberations of the elder board were short, too. My husband was to be fired as youth pastor," writes Dr. Barr, a history professor at Baylor University in Texas.

She and her husband had reached "the point at which my husband and I were willing to risk our ministry by challenging pastoral authority, especially over the unequal treatment of women in our church."

I was trying to review email and tweets efficiently before going to bed, but I had to stop and cry.

Dr. Barr is on a campaign to get evangelical churches back on track with what the Bible really says about women.

Other Southern Baptist women are also reconsidering the "women obey your husbands" and "women may not preach" theology.  Here's an Associated Press report.

For example, the well-known Bible study media figure Beth Moore recently left the Southern Baptist Church over its relegation of women to second-class status.  Because she is a popular Bible teacher, her exit in March is still making a lot of waves.

Many churches have book clubs, and women especially are reading and changing their minds on these once-standard maxims of church teaching: "Women must submit to their husbands" and "Women must not preach."

Start using this hashtag in your social media posts and tweets: #endchristianpatriarchy

You can get the sticker by pre-ordering Dr. Barr's forth-coming book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth.

Boulder shooting, school bullying

Los Angeles Times report, March 25, 2021

My brother is freaking out about people who excuse the Boulder shooter because he was bullied.

Here's my reply:

The kid clearly has a screw or two loose, one dud out of 11 kids in the family. I figure his parents have a batting average of 900. 

Don't let a few bleeding heart comments get to you. Of course he was bullied like everyone else who stuck out in any way. But not everyone kills ten people. 

Of course he'll get life in prison. End of story. As Al-Anon says, accept what you cannot change. A few bleeding hearts are always going to say things like that. 

(Note: I am a champion bleeding heart.)

My brother Jim lives in Arvada, Colorado, where the killer also lives or lived before he went to jail.  Jim's two sons went to the same high school as this killer.

He and his wife knew one of the victims, Suzanne Fountain, a dental patient of Jim's wife who worked as a Medicare consultant and helped them find the best Nedicare supplement plan for their needs and budget. 

Clearly, Jim has reasons to be outraged by the murders and by any sympathy for the killer.

But I hope he moves on to focus on ways to effect change, not on comments that increase his anguish.

Ways to prevent these mass murders from happening again include:

• Enact gun control.
• Do background checks.
• Require waiting periods after applying to buy a gun.
• Allow cities to enact gun control 
• Improve access to mental health services.

And yes, decrease bullying in high schools. 

Thank you to Los Angeles Times reporters Jaweed Kaleem @jaweedkaleem and Melissa Etehad @melissaetehad.

Resources:

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-03-24/boulder-shooting-gun-reform

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/guns-boulder-shooting-assault-weapons-ban/

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/23/us/boulder-colorado-shooting#the-suspect-was-prone-to-angry-outbursts-according-to-former-classmates

An Inconvenient Truth from The Guardian

Editorial in The Guardian, March 8, 2021

What an experience to witness Oprah Winfrey interviewing Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.  I felt that I was watching another episode of The Crown.

Thank you to The Guardian for pointing out the obvious: that the monarchy is no longer relevant.  

Yes, "Whether a hereditary head of state is required today ought to be considered...."

The monarchy is a relic of the day when colonialism was okay, racism was legal, and equality was heretical.

The radicals in Britain's North American colony who declared their independence also sowed seeds that would eventually dissolve the monarchy: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal....

If all humans are created equal, no one has a birth right to rule over others. 

The king and queen of England do not rule by divine right or any other right except social consent. Parliament and the public have the responsibility to decide whether retaining the monarchy serves a useful purpose.

By their racism against Meghan and her children, the royals have proven that they are no longer useful.

Like France, England needs to remove the monarchy as a relic of history. 

See also in The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/08/meghan-has-been-mistreated-for-years-but-her-interview-still-shocked-me

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2021/mar/08/harry-meghan-oprah-interview-duke-duchess-sussex-toxic-environment-live-news