Sergeant Keith Gums, a retired 23-year veteran of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Gums has trained fellow officers in the tactics of modern policing. As a general practice, Gums says he tries not to comment on other police officers’ conduct. But shortly after Michael Brown was killed in August of this year in Ferguson, Missouri, Gums walked us through the uses of force in the deaths of both Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Young people await a Ferguson grand jury’s decision of Officer Darren Wilson who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown. Here is what young people in Oakland had to say.
The fatal shooting of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, MO resonated deeply with young people in Oakland and all over the country. Youth Radio sent a reporter and producer to Ferguson, MO to witness the events and amplify local youth voices and perspectives.
Our friends at the Black Youth Project have been covering the events in Ferguson, MO closely, helping their readers put the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in the context of ongoing police violence against young Black men.
Am I worth as much as a candy bar? Or am I worth a Play Station? What would it take for killing me to be excusable?
Our friends at Youth Speaks launched the Off/Page Project to combine original storytelling and arts with investigative data. The project is soliciting poetry from young people that explains and expresses how Brown’s death and the nationwide response have affected their lives.
