Ep. 23: Lou Dubose at Ground Zero in Ferguson

I have written extensively about the killing of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. However, like most of the cultural critics, analysts, and interested public, I have not had an opportunity to actually go to Ferguson, and to speak with the members of the under siege, bullied, and harassed by the thuggish white police, African-American community that resides there.

For those of us who live outside of Ferguson, our insights into that community are mediated by others. While the broader issue of police brutality may resonate with us because of our personal encounters with racist and classist police power, this is no substitute for a direct experience and "eye on the ground" in Ferguson.

In the next two episodes of The Chauncey DeVega Show, I will try to remedy that social distance.

Lou Dubose, editor of The Washington Spectator, is the first guest in our two part series on the killing of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson, and the subsequent police riot against the black citizens of Ferguson.

  He is a very accomplished and experienced journalist who has written for The Nation magazine and has also appeared on news programs such as 60 Minutes.

Mr. Dubose has written an excellent series of stories about the events in Ferguson based on his experiences there in the aftermath of the police riot against the town's black and brown community.

In this conversation, Lou and I discuss the racial geography of Ferguson, what he learned from the young people he spoke to about their experiences with police harassment, how the police responded to the media, the inter-class tensions within the black community in response to the protests about Michael Brown's death, and his thoughts about the grand jury investigation into Darren Wilson and the future of Ferguson if the latter is not put on trial for the killing of Michael Brown.

The grand jury in Ferguson will be issuing its decision about Darren Wilson in the very near future.

My conversation with Lou Dubose is timely and essential.