It doesn’t matter to me whether or not a person who’s stating something untrue is conscious of their lie, or if they’re just lying because they’re unaware of the truth. Instead, what truly concerns me is the impact of a lie, which is misinformation disseminated to one or more people whose perception of something thereafter is not based on fact.
Fueling mis-perception, regardless of whether or not that’s one’s intent, isn’t a minor offense; it’s been proven to be a dangerous and, in some cases – like when a young black man named Mr. Jonathan Ferrell survived a car accident in 2013 only to, minutes later, be gunned down by a police officer who, responding to a breaking-and-entering 911 call, mis-perceived Mr. Ferrell’s unarmed body, which had just climbed out the back window of a wrecked car, as a threat: the news media for centuries has misrepresented the black man as a brute who poses a threat to society, which is why when Mr. Ferrell was knocking on the first door he saw after the crash, the occupants called the police and not an ambulance – a deadly malfeasance.
Members of the American news media yesterday fueled mis-perception; the outcome of the misinformation disseminated by their outlets won’t be deadly, but it will be damaging to the reputation of #BlackLivesMatter, a decentralized network of activists across the globe who aim to deconstruct systems of white supremacy and make the liberation of black and brown people a political priority. The journalists of whom I speak lied on Monday when they informed the public that the ‘Vision for Black Lives,’ a comprehensive document that articulates six demands and 40 corresponding policy recommendations, was the cohort’s first-time offering up such a presentation.
The Nation’s headline read: “What Does Black Lives Matter Want? We Now Have it in Writing.”
A headline from TIME stated “Black Lives Matter Released First List of Demands.”
Newsweek declared: “A coalition affiliated with the anti-racism Black Lives Matter movement called for criminal justice reforms and reparations for slavery in the United States among other demands in its first policy platform released on Monday.”
Most odd about this misinformation provided to the American public by journalists who clearly did no research on the subject is the fact that just last August #BlackLivesMatter released a policy platform so succinct that the Washington Post rated it “practical, thoughtful and urgent.”
The WaPo article from August of 2015 reads in part: “Last week, the leaders of Black Lives Matter released a series of policy solutions to address police killings, excessive force, profiling, and racial discrimination and other problems called ‘Campaign Zero.’”
Furthermore – and even more embarrassing for the journalists who yesterday were unbelievably inaccurate in their reporting – months later in 2015, Black Lives Matter activists Mr. Deray McKesson and Ms. Johnetta Elzie, according to Breitbart.com, “Put together a website, Demands.org, promoting demands made by various student protest groups at 37 campuses across the country.”
By labeling the ‘Vision for Black Lives’ document “the first,” media portrays #BlackLivesMatter as an entity just finding its footing rather than a network expanding its capacity. And though the movement was never exclusively focused on policing, it’s now explicitly diverse in its focus and language. This moment should’ve been written about as an evolution, not a birth.
It’s my belief that the journalists who lied didn’t do so intentionally, instead they’re just lazy – didn’t feel like doing a simple Google search – or pretty stupid: unable to do a Google search.
But regardless of their handicap, misinformation has been written by these journalists and published by outlets, and now it needs to be retracted. Accuracy matters, as do black lives.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™