I had to explain to my 8th grade grandson how to avoid a "death box" which lead to the murder of Renee Good. He's terrified this will happen to him some day when I pick him up from school. He boldly asserted if we were ever surrounded by ICE, he'd scream, threaten to call the cops...at which time I had to stop him and explain the proper way to protect your life if ICE gets you in a "death box". I taught US History in high school for 25 years and never in my wildest moments did I ever think I'd be explaining such a murderous tactic to my offspring in the US in 2026.
I started college in the fall of 1969 in Washington, D.C. 1968 was my political coming-of-age year, the year I turned 17. I was aware of the violence against Black people and civil rights workers in the South. I knew that the FBI had been surveilling Dr. King and other civil rights leaders for years. As an antiwar activist I did trainings in nonviolent tactics and the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam (and elsewhere). But my most powerful teachers were my elders who had experienced the power of the state as civil rights activists, labor organizers, and onetime members of the Communist Party. (Some of these elders were only a few years older than I.)
These histories keep getting lost, especially among white people. I was shocked by the onset of Trump II, but once I got down to tracing the threads back to Citizens United, back to the Reagan administration, back to the backlash against civil rights and women's rights . . . Well, it wasn't all that hard. Which proves once again the cliché that "hindsight is 20-20."
I was disturbed to think that CNN piled on to the rush to paint Renee as a domestic terrorist. In actuality the article you cited points out that the federal accusations are baseless. It does say that it was unclear whether her car made contact with the agent's body-- which seems unlikely to have happened-- but otherwise it supports her and the other protesters including parents and teachers at her child's school.
I had to explain to my 8th grade grandson how to avoid a "death box" which lead to the murder of Renee Good. He's terrified this will happen to him some day when I pick him up from school. He boldly asserted if we were ever surrounded by ICE, he'd scream, threaten to call the cops...at which time I had to stop him and explain the proper way to protect your life if ICE gets you in a "death box". I taught US History in high school for 25 years and never in my wildest moments did I ever think I'd be explaining such a murderous tactic to my offspring in the US in 2026.
I feel you. Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to explain the world to my kids. And absolutely, I'm going to have to. Sooner rather than later.
I started college in the fall of 1969 in Washington, D.C. 1968 was my political coming-of-age year, the year I turned 17. I was aware of the violence against Black people and civil rights workers in the South. I knew that the FBI had been surveilling Dr. King and other civil rights leaders for years. As an antiwar activist I did trainings in nonviolent tactics and the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam (and elsewhere). But my most powerful teachers were my elders who had experienced the power of the state as civil rights activists, labor organizers, and onetime members of the Communist Party. (Some of these elders were only a few years older than I.)
These histories keep getting lost, especially among white people. I was shocked by the onset of Trump II, but once I got down to tracing the threads back to Citizens United, back to the Reagan administration, back to the backlash against civil rights and women's rights . . . Well, it wasn't all that hard. Which proves once again the cliché that "hindsight is 20-20."
https://mdavis19881.substack.com/p/whats-next-in-minneapolis
Excellent piece, Melissa.
I was disturbed to think that CNN piled on to the rush to paint Renee as a domestic terrorist. In actuality the article you cited points out that the federal accusations are baseless. It does say that it was unclear whether her car made contact with the agent's body-- which seems unlikely to have happened-- but otherwise it supports her and the other protesters including parents and teachers at her child's school.
Yeah, CNN wasn't great here. But also the fact that this was the line at all is nuts.
Definitely.