Hartford is one of the poorest cities in America. While there is lots to love about this city, like the fact that poor minorities are not subject to the police brutality seen in Baltimore and Ferguson, people of color who live in Hartford and who also happen to be poor share the same high levels of unemployment and urban decay seen in those cities.
Yet, not until the killing of Michael Brown and the string of other young black men who died at the hands of the police, like Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Freddie Gray, did cities across the country erupt in protest - some peaceful, some not. We haven't seen this level of outrage since the 1960's when 329 rebellions in 257 cities resulted in almost 300 deaths, and thousands of arrests.
Some say violence and looting is bad and not the way to change the system. Others say it's the only remaining avenue toward change when no one in power listens. We talk about that.
But first, we explore rebellions and riots and uprisings and when, or even if, it's ever moral to incite violence.
You can join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter
GUESTS:
- Jamil Ragland - writer and resident of Hartford
- Eric Patterson - Dean and Associate Professor at Robertson School of Government, Regent University and research fellow at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs
- Ashley Howard - assistant professor of History at Loyola University New Orleans and author of the forthcoming book, “Prairie Fires: Race, Class, Gender, and the Midwest in the 1960s Urban Rebellions”
MUSIC:
- "41 Shots" by Bruce Springsteen
- "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke
- "Baltimore" by Prince
Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
