Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 690

Natasha McKenna: When Killing a Black Woman in Crisis is “Professionalism”

Natasha McKenna: When Killing a Black Woman in Crisis is “Professionalism”
A Statement from Amnesty International and the African American Policy Forum
The African American Policy Forum is deeply disappointed that the six officers who swarmed and Tasered Natasha McKenna to death in Fairfax (Va.) County Jail will face no criminal charges  for their actions. We condemn the disregard for McKenna’s humanity that led to her detainment and death after she called 911 for mental health support. We are gravely concerned that this failure to prosecute effectively endorses the view that responsibility for her death falls on the person least in control of the situation—McKenna herself. 
The fact that McKenna’s call for help resulted in her being criminalized, detained and ultimately treated as a deadly biohazard evidences a system that views Black women in crisis as less than human.

A shocking video  released on September 10 shows that McKenna stopped breathing after six officers in hazmat suits Tased the naked woman four times with 50,000 volts of electricity. McKenna was Tased while shackled, restrained in a chair, and covered with a hood. The tragedy that unfolded, which we can now all see, shows that McKenna's death was not a mere accident, nor was it dictated by any real concern for officer safety. It was a raw exercise of power, rationalized by the perception that McKenna’s behavior was evidence of willful disregard for their authority.

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacy Kincaid released the footage in an effort to show the “professionalism” and the “restraint and the patience that the deputies demonstrated.” Kincaid’s comments strain credibility. That McKenna was certainly terrified, confused and desperate was lost not only on the officers who killed her, but on the authorities who judged the officers' behavior to be “professional” and consistent with all applicable laws.

Unfortunately, McKenna’s death is no anomaly. The killing of Black women in crisis is all too familiar. Michelle Cusseaux, Tanisha Anderson, Shereese Francis, Kayla Moore, and Tyisha Miller were all met with deadly violence when they or their loved ones sought supportive intervention. Along with McKenna and many others whose names we don’t know, these Black women in mental health crises were brutalized by the very people who should have helped them.

McKenna’s mistreatment demonstrates the at-times deadly results of law enforcement being first responders in mental health crises. Police officers are not mental health professionals and often lack the skills and training necessary to handle such situations.

In February, McKenna called 911 during a mental health crisis. She had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 12. Instead of providing her with mental health support, officers brought McKenna to Fairfax County Jail on an outstanding warrant. After being held in jail for seven days, McKenna—who weighed 130 pounds and was 5’4’’ tall—was hooded and shackled by officers attempting to move her to a mental health facility. Within minutes of being Tased, she stopped breathing. She died in the hospital seven days later. After visiting her in the hospital, McKenna’s mother reported that her daughter's eyes were blackened, she was covered in bruises, and one of her fingers was missing.

The coroner classified McKenna’s cause of death as “excited delirium,” a term commonly used when deaths result from law enforcement use of Tasers that is not recognized by the medical community. Moreover, law enforcement ignored that the use of Tasers is not recommended on those suffering from mental illness.

The circumstances surrounding McKenna’s death are an indictment of a system that treats the most vulnerable members of our society as threats to the status quo rather than individuals in need of support. As a nation we must do better.

If we don’t speak up and force attention to McKenna’s story, those in power will face no repercussions for their blatant disregard for the value of her life. Join the African American Policy Forum, Amnesty International, Black Lives Matter DMV and SURJ NoVa in calling for an expedited Department of Justice investigation into McKenna’s death, along with immediate action to bring US policing practices in line with international human rights standards.   
CLICK HERE to sign Amnesty International’s petition calling for a swift and independent DOJ investigation, accompanied by concrete action including national guidelines for Taser use and the creation of a National Crime and Justice Task Force. 
Also CLICK HERE  to add your name in support of SURJ NoVa and Black Lives Matter DMV’s call for the officers responsible for McKenna’s death to be fired.

The gross miscarriage of justice in Natasha McKenna’s case reminds us of the need to be vigilant in our call to #SayHerName. We must rededicate ourselves to uplifting her story. We must let the powers that be know that if we don’t get no justice, they won’t get no peace.

#SayHerName. #NatashaMcKenna.

Left of Black S6:E5: Teaching + Living + Parenting in St. Louis a Year After Mike Brown’s Death

Left of Black S6:E5: Teaching and Living  in St. Louis a Year After Mike Brown’s Death
Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) is joined on location in Durham, NC by Scholar Jeffrey Q. McCune (@DrJeffrey2U), author of Sexual Discretion Black Masculinity and the Politics of Passing (University of Chicago Press).
Neal and McCune discuss the intersectionality of #BlackLivesMatter, living and teaching in St. Louis a year after Mike Brown’s killing, and the challenges of raising a Black boy, as an out Black Gay man in the context of State sanctioned violence against Black and Queer bodies. McCune is Associate Professor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and the Performing Arts Department at Washington University in St. Louis. Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University and in conjunction with the Center for Arts, Digital Culture & Entrepreneurship (CADCE).
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Episodes of Left of Black are also available for free download in @ iTunes U
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Follow Left of Black on Twitter: @LeftofBlack   

Ainissa Ramirez on The Science Behind the Football Spiral

'Football season is finally upon us, and with that, team pride, tailgating, and the perfect spiral. But how exactly does that spiral work? A good spiral throw makes 600 turns per minute—just as fast as a cd in a cd player. As the ball spins across the field, gravity pulls the nose of the ball downwards, and the direction the football changes slightly depending on which hand you use to throw it. Watch materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez explain the physics behind the perfect touchdown pass.' -- +TIME 

Michael Kimmel: " Why Gender Equality Is Good for Everyone — Men Included"

"Yes, we all know it’s the right thing to do. But Michael Kimmel makes the surprising, funny, practical case for treating men and women equally in the workplace and at home. It’s not a zero-sum game, but a win-win that will result in more opportunity and more happiness for everybody." -- +Ted Talks  

Yale's "Economic Inequality Game"

+PBS NewsHour  profiles Yale's Human Nature Lab directed by Nicholas Christakis, where they are using gaming to examine Economic Inequality.

Left of Black S6:E4: Religion + Hip-Hop at the Intersection of #BlackLivesMatter

Left of Black S6:E4: Religion + Hip-Hop at the Intersection of #BlackLivesMatter
Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) is joined by Religion Scholar Monica R. Miller (@religionhiphop), author of Religion and Hip Hop (Routledge, 2012), Claiming Identity in the Study of Religion: Social and Rhetorical Techniques Examined (Equinox), and co-editor of The Hip Hop and Religion Reader (Routledge) and co-editor Religion in Hip Hop: Mapping the New Terrain in the US w/ Anthony Pinn and Bernard ‘Bun B’ Freeman (Bloomsbury). Professor Miller  is Assistant Professor of Religion and Africana Studies at Lehigh University, where she also serves as Director of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
In this wide ranging and often frenetic conversation, Professor Miller discusses the shared passions of #BlackLivesMatter and Hip-Hop, the role each plays in forwarding a Black protest tradition, and the ways that both are redefining notions of Black Religious practice for young activist.
Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University and in conjunction with the Center for Arts, Digital Culture & Entrepreneurship (CADCE).
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Episodes of Left of Black are also available for free download in @ iTunes U
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Follow Left of Black on Twitter: @LeftofBlack

Conversations in Black Freedom Studies - The Young Lords Party

“The epic of the Young Lords is one of the most exciting, important yet neglected stories in the black Revolt and Puerto Rican Liberation. When it came to a Black & Puerto Rican alliance and to organizing the grassroots, all the political “experts” said it couldn’t be done. But, when the stories of the triumphant Young Lords protests and programs reached the front pages from Chicago to New York and Newark, the “experts” decided to bury that legacy of Black & Latino solidarity, the original Rainbow Coalition and the Nuyorican Renaissance.  This conversation is the first of a two-part program in our Conversations in Black Freedom Studies series that begins to unpack important lessons from this unforgettable story with Jose Cha Cha Jimenez, Denise Oliver-Velez, Felipe Luciano, Johanna Fernandez and Wilson Valentin.” – CBFS Co-Curator Komozi Woodard

The American Studies Association Recognizes Mark Anthony Neal for Excellence in Mentoring

 #‎AwardWinnerSpotlight‬ ‪#‎2015ASA‬
Congratulations to Duke University Professor Dr. Mark Anthony Neal for winning this year's Richard A. Yarborough Mentoring Award!
The ASA Minority Scholars Committee awards the Richard A. Yarborough Mentoring Award to honor a scholar who, like Richard Yarborough, demonstrates dedication to and excellence in mentoring underrepresented faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and/or college, university or high school students.
According to the committee, "Mark has cultivated a large audience that exists both within and outside of the academy, and he shares this audience with early-career (and often women of color) scholars and activists by making his social media sites, blog, and web series, Left of Black, a platform for their work."

Talib Kweli + 9th Wonder Talk #Indie500 on The Combat Jack Show

'Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder talk their Indie 500 project, the stigma with "conscious rap", the recent Complex "rift" and why we should continue to appreciate all forms of rap music.' -- The Combat Jack Show

The Big Business of Textbooks and Revisionist History of The Atlantic Slave Trade

'After Roni Dean-Burren called out textbook publisher McGraw Hill for referring to slaves as "workers" in her high schooler's textbook, the company has agreed to revise the language. She joins +HuffPost Live's Nancy Redd, along with Texas mother and book reviewer Maya Smart and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal  to discuss how history gets misrepresented.'