David Ragland

If Mental Illness Is the Problem, America Is Mentally Ill

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DavidRaglanNatalie JeffersMatt Meyer
“2015 was a year of exceptionally overt police violence against black folk and tragic mass shootings. A common response to these events has been that they are the result of “sick” individuals. Many conservatives have suggested that the shooters were mentally ill: that the problem was a proliferation of bad people, not a proliferation of guns. When, however, the murderers happen to be people “of color,” the narrative often changes to one of terrorism and extremism (though the NRA position remains consistently pro-gun, even defending the rights of the San Bernadino terrorists to acquire their weaponry).”

Author: Dave Ragland with Matt Meyer and Natalie Jeffers
Published in: Counterpunch http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/25/if-mental-illness-is-the-problem-america-is-mentally-ill/
Battle Creek Enquirer http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/opinion/columnists/2015/12/26/real-hope/77918718/
Date: December 25,26,2015

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Ferguson, America, and moving forward toward truth

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DavidRaglanMarkLance
“Recent grassroots mobilization against police killings of African Americans has thrust a long-standing pattern of racial violence into the consciousness of the world. There is nothing new about state violence against African Americans: from slave patrols, fugitive slave laws, and the Klan/state violence of Jim Crow, right up to today’s racial profiling, stop and frisk, mass incarceration, and shoot-first practices, the segregation and racial oppression of the US has always been maintained by violence.”

Author: David Ragland and Mark Lance
Published in: Counter Punch http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/16/ferguson-america-and-moving-forward-toward-truth/
Quad City Times http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/ferguson-america-and-moving-forward-toward-truth/article_d3b782cb-5f13-5f6a-a279-81b5634e2b90.html
Date: October 16,22,2015

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Seeking Truth Together: Challenging the Silence Racism Creates

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DavidRaglan
“When racial bias occurs it is customary to suggest that such practices are out of the norm or something only done by an individual out of touch with prevailing social values, but racism is part of American social ecology, often as unrecognized as the air we breathe. ”

Author: David Ragland
Published in: Huntington News http://www.huntingtonnews.net/110169, Sierra County Prospect http://www.sierracountyprospect.org/2015/04/01/air-we-breathe-4115/, Counterpunch http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/02/challenging-the-silence-racism-creates/, Truth Out http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/30033-seeking-truth-together-challenging-the-silence-racism-creates, Information Clearing House http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41430.htm, Las Vegas Informer http://lasvegas.informermg.com/2015/04/05/seeking-truth-together-challenging-silence-racism-creates/
Date: April 1,2,3,5,2015

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The wrong priorities: Shifting spending on violence

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DavidRaglan
“In the lead-up to the grand jury outcome in the Michael Brown murder the St. Louis and Ferguson-area police have ramped up their preparation- with stockpiles of more weapons and rhetoric that contributes to the public frenzy.”

Author: David J. Ragland
Published in: The Portland Alliance http://www.theportlandalliance.org/peacevoice/, Las Vegas Informer http://lasvegas.informermg.com/2014/11/20/wrong-priorities-shifting-spending-violence/, Counter Punch http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/21/shifting-spending-on-violence/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=shifting-spending-on-violence, Battle Creek Enquirer http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/11/21/david-ragland-fueling-fire-ferguson/19335555/, Common Dreams http://commondreams.org/views/2014/11/21/wrong-priorities-ferguson-and-beyond-we-must-invest-communities-not-violence, Las Vegas Informer http://lasvegas.informermg.com/2014/11/19/ferguson-reliving-reversing-violent-self-fulfilling-prophesy/, Press Tv http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/11/22/387077/wrong-priorities-in-ferguson-and-beyond/
Date: November 19,20,21,22,2014

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Ferguson: Reliving or reversing a violent self-fulfilling prophesy?

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writers
“It’s been 100 days since Darren Wilson killed unarmed young African American Michael Brown and the world is watching and waiting to hear the forgone conclusion of white officer Wilson’s non-indictment. Many expect a violent reaction from an angry community when there is no indictment.”

Author: David Ragland with Wayne Adams, Mahdis Azarmandi and Mark Lance
Published in: Common Dreams http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/11/14/ferguson-and-self-fulfilling-prophesy-violence, Daily Cardinal http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/racial-dialogues-continue-to-be-necessary-for-progress/article_4ff75eb2-6e12-11e4-8457-c3d2e8de2066.html, The Gilmer Free Press http://www.gilmerfreepress.net/index.php/site/ferguson_reliving_or_reversing_a_violent_self-fulfilling_prophesy/, Counter Punch http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/14/ferguson-reliving-or-reversing-a-violent-self-fulfilling-prophesy/, Grassroots Press http://www.grass-roots-press.com/index.php?s=david+ragland, East County Magazine http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/readers-editorial-ferguson-reliving-or-reversing-violent-self-fulfilling-prophesy, The Cap Times http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/david-ragland-et-al-is-ferguson-reliving-or-reversing-a/article_73512399-ba81-57e8-91c5-1c180523667a.html, Satish Sharma’s Rotigraphy Blog http://satish-sharma.blogspot.com/2014/11/ferguson-and-self-fulfilling-prophesy.html, Sierra County Prospect http://www.sierracountyprospect.org/2014/11/18/a-sense-of-calm-111914/, The Daily Cardinal p.6 http://issuu.com/the_daily_cardinal/docs/11172014, Truth Out http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/27496-ferguson-reliving-or-reversing-a-violent-self-fulfilling-prophecy, The Peace Worker http://peaceworker.org/2014/11/ferguson-reliving-or-reversing-a-violent-self-fulfilling-prophecy/?utm_source=November+28%2C+2014+PeaceWorker+Articles&utm_campaign=This+Week%27s+PeaceWorker+Articles&utm_medium=email
Date: November 14,15,16,18,19,23,27,2014

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Michael Brown and the America’s Structural Violence Epidemic

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DavidRaglan
“I flew into St. Louis on Saturday, August 9, to celebrate the birthdays of my mother and nephew and immediately learned about Mike Brown, a soon-to-be college student who was fatally shot by Ferguson police. As my community and I struggle to make sense of this recent murder, I cannot help but think of the structures of racism and violence in America and how they perpetuate police brutality against Black Americans. Police brutality is a national crisis, but the underlying structural violence – racism, economic injustice and militarism – is a national epidemic.”

Author: David Ragland
Published in: Sierra County Prospect http://www.sierracountyprospect.org/category/guest-columnists/david-ragland/, The Brown Watch http://www.brown-watch.com/other-headlines-brown-watch/2014/8/17/davd-ragland-michael-brown-and-the-americas-structural-viole.html, Common Dreams http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/08/14/michael-brown-and-americas-structural-violence-epidemic, Counter Punch http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/15/michael-brown-and-the-americas-structural-violence-epidemic/, Evergreene Digest http://www.evergreenedigest.org/michael-brown-and-america%E2%80%99s-structural-violence-epidemic, Huntington News http://www.huntingtonnews.net/93013, Las Vegas Informer http://lasvegas.informermg.com/2014/08/15/michael-brown-americas-structural-violence-epidemic/, Valley Voice Newspaper http://issuu.com/ourvalleyvoice/docs/vv_issue_27_combi (pag 14), The Cap Times http://lasvegas.informermg.com/2014/08/15/michael-brown-americas-structural-violence-epidemic/, The Portland Observer http://portlandobserver.com/news/2014/aug/14/struggling-make-sense-michael-browns-death/, The Times of Earth http://www.timesofearth.com/features-views-analysis/michael-brown-and-the-americas-structural-violence-epidemic.html, Truth Out http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/25611-michael-brown-and-the-americas-structural-violence-epidemic, Vox Populi http://voxpopulisphere.com/2014/08/18/david-ragland-michael-brown-and-americas-structural-violence-epidemic/, The Detroit News http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140819/OPINION01/308190002/0/OPINION01/Ferguson-America-s-structural-violence-epidemic
Date: August 14,15,19,21,25,2014

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