Hello readers and welcome back to my blog that reflects my thoughts and ideas about the novel Pushout written By Monique Morris. In this post, I will be talking about the novel and how it relates to current events! So let’s dive in!
First off, I have to admit that I’m not much of a nonfiction reader, and normally the idea of reading it seems tedious and for lack of a better term, boring. But after indulging in this book, my opinion has since changed. It very well could be that I have been reading nonfiction about the wrong topics, or that the topic of race is just something that I feel strongly about. Either way, this book has been nothing short of educational and shocking to me. I think that one of the reasons the topic of race and how it plays a role in the United States is so moving to me is because of all the current events that surround it.
9 months ago, me, my camera, my sister and my mother did something new for the first time: We went to a protest. My mother was, as any mother would be, apprehensive. She saw the news. We all did. The riots, the violence, and overall the hatred. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But what’s easy isn’t always right. Going to the protest was one of the most eye-opening experiences I will ever have. Of course, before attending there were rules set in place by my parents. Number one rule: we had to keep our mask on. While this may be a fight to keep others safe, we had to keep ourselves safe first. And catching Covid would very well ruin the whole experience. Rule number two: do not engage with those of the opposite views. As frustrating as it is to watch the confederate flag be waved by someone who isn’t smart enough to wear a mask, we had to keep our mouths shut. The other rule that piggybacked off this one was rule number three: no cops. The news had made it very clear that they did not come to play around and all three of us did not need to watch the rest of the protest go on through the backseat of a police car’s window. The last rule went unspoken but we all knew it was there: hang back and stay away from the main crowd. Putting aside the risk of catching Covid and the possible riot breakout, we were there for the cause, but this was not our place to overstep. We were educated as much as possible, we supported the movement in any way that we could, but at the end of the day my family could go home and feel safe in our own skin, Black people couldn’t and still can’t.
Although Morris's main focus in her novel isn’t about the issues surrounding police brutality against Black People, I still think it resonates with the bigger topic that connects the protests and the book: the criminalization of this race. Whether it be in schools or on the streets, the unnecessary actions that are happening to these people need to be acknowledged and stopped.
The movement #SayHerName was created in 2014 by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF). According to this organization (the AAPF), #SayHerName “sheds light on Black women’s experiences of police violence in an effort to support a gender-inclusive approach to racial justice that centers all Black lives equally” (Say Her Name). After doing a little more research I found stories of young girls, similar to the ones Morris tells in her novel, being mistreated. While there are stories of females ranging from the age of 7 to 93, I want to focus on the younger girls because I feel as though it relates better to Morris' purpose in the novel.
The first story I read was about a girl the same age as me. Darnesha Harris was driving her car in December of 2012 when she suddenly struck the front of a police car. Then in an effort to get away she put the car in reverse and struck another car and then a bystander (In Memoriam). For an event that was an accident, Darnesha Harris never lived to see her 18th birthday, because after the crash a police officer shot and killed her (In Memoriam). This story rubs me the wrong way for multiple reasons. The first being that Darnesha was the same age as me. I have been driving for almost 18 months and I still am not perfect, nobody is. When I was first learning to drive, my dad always said to me that the only way to get better was by gaining experience and that you have to make mistakes in order to do so. Darnesha will never get to gain more experience, and her mistakes caused her death. Darneshas mistakes could have very well been mine, but if it were me in that car, the story would not have the same ending. The way her life ended is no doubt because of Darnesha’s skin color. Which is the second reason that this story is so angering to me. Although it is believable that the officer felt threatened by Darnesha in a destructive mode with her car, her death is inexcusable. There are many other ways to deal with a situation like this but killing the aggressor is the most inhumane.
Another story the coincides with the #SayHerName movement is Derrinesha Clay’s. Also my age, Clay was found inside of a bank where she had entered through a broken window, she then hid in a storage cabinet with a pair of scissors, when she was discovered by the police they shot and killed her (In Memoriam). Derrinesha was also thought to be bipolar and under stress because she had run away from home (In Memoriam). In the last moments of her life, Derrinesha felt fear from those who are supposed to “protect and serve”. In the struggle to get her, Derrinesha was shot not once, but twice while she was on her knees (In Memoriam). This story brings in the relevance of mental illness that is usually ignored as an issue with the Black community. In her novel, Morris talks briefly of the effect of mental illness on some young girls. She says that in a national perspective 81% of Black girls that are incarcerated deal with mental health issues daily (Morris, 152). The sad fact is that these girls who deal with such issues get little to no help. They are simply misunderstood and forgotten in our world.
The stories that I have recalled from the novel and the #SayHerName movement all prove Morris’s point: that young Black girls are criminalized. Throughout this past year, I have become much more educated and aware of the problems that surround this issue, and with the help of this book, I know that education is the first step in fixing the problem. I can’t wait to keep reading and learn more!
*1- all photos included in this article were taken by me
First off, I have to admit that I’m not much of a nonfiction reader, and normally the idea of reading it seems tedious and for lack of a better term, boring. But after indulging in this book, my opinion has since changed. It very well could be that I have been reading nonfiction about the wrong topics, or that the topic of race is just something that I feel strongly about. Either way, this book has been nothing short of educational and shocking to me. I think that one of the reasons the topic of race and how it plays a role in the United States is so moving to me is because of all the current events that surround it.
9 months ago, me, my camera, my sister and my mother did something new for the first time: We went to a protest. My mother was, as any mother would be, apprehensive. She saw the news. We all did. The riots, the violence, and overall the hatred. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But what’s easy isn’t always right. Going to the protest was one of the most eye-opening experiences I will ever have. Of course, before attending there were rules set in place by my parents. Number one rule: we had to keep our mask on. While this may be a fight to keep others safe, we had to keep ourselves safe first. And catching Covid would very well ruin the whole experience. Rule number two: do not engage with those of the opposite views. As frustrating as it is to watch the confederate flag be waved by someone who isn’t smart enough to wear a mask, we had to keep our mouths shut. The other rule that piggybacked off this one was rule number three: no cops. The news had made it very clear that they did not come to play around and all three of us did not need to watch the rest of the protest go on through the backseat of a police car’s window. The last rule went unspoken but we all knew it was there: hang back and stay away from the main crowd. Putting aside the risk of catching Covid and the possible riot breakout, we were there for the cause, but this was not our place to overstep. We were educated as much as possible, we supported the movement in any way that we could, but at the end of the day my family could go home and feel safe in our own skin, Black people couldn’t and still can’t.
*1
Although Morris's main focus in her novel isn’t about the issues surrounding police brutality against Black People, I still think it resonates with the bigger topic that connects the protests and the book: the criminalization of this race. Whether it be in schools or on the streets, the unnecessary actions that are happening to these people need to be acknowledged and stopped.
The movement #SayHerName was created in 2014 by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF). According to this organization (the AAPF), #SayHerName “sheds light on Black women’s experiences of police violence in an effort to support a gender-inclusive approach to racial justice that centers all Black lives equally” (Say Her Name). After doing a little more research I found stories of young girls, similar to the ones Morris tells in her novel, being mistreated. While there are stories of females ranging from the age of 7 to 93, I want to focus on the younger girls because I feel as though it relates better to Morris' purpose in the novel.
The first story I read was about a girl the same age as me. Darnesha Harris was driving her car in December of 2012 when she suddenly struck the front of a police car. Then in an effort to get away she put the car in reverse and struck another car and then a bystander (In Memoriam). For an event that was an accident, Darnesha Harris never lived to see her 18th birthday, because after the crash a police officer shot and killed her (In Memoriam). This story rubs me the wrong way for multiple reasons. The first being that Darnesha was the same age as me. I have been driving for almost 18 months and I still am not perfect, nobody is. When I was first learning to drive, my dad always said to me that the only way to get better was by gaining experience and that you have to make mistakes in order to do so. Darnesha will never get to gain more experience, and her mistakes caused her death. Darneshas mistakes could have very well been mine, but if it were me in that car, the story would not have the same ending. The way her life ended is no doubt because of Darnesha’s skin color. Which is the second reason that this story is so angering to me. Although it is believable that the officer felt threatened by Darnesha in a destructive mode with her car, her death is inexcusable. There are many other ways to deal with a situation like this but killing the aggressor is the most inhumane.
Another story the coincides with the #SayHerName movement is Derrinesha Clay’s. Also my age, Clay was found inside of a bank where she had entered through a broken window, she then hid in a storage cabinet with a pair of scissors, when she was discovered by the police they shot and killed her (In Memoriam). Derrinesha was also thought to be bipolar and under stress because she had run away from home (In Memoriam). In the last moments of her life, Derrinesha felt fear from those who are supposed to “protect and serve”. In the struggle to get her, Derrinesha was shot not once, but twice while she was on her knees (In Memoriam). This story brings in the relevance of mental illness that is usually ignored as an issue with the Black community. In her novel, Morris talks briefly of the effect of mental illness on some young girls. She says that in a national perspective 81% of Black girls that are incarcerated deal with mental health issues daily (Morris, 152). The sad fact is that these girls who deal with such issues get little to no help. They are simply misunderstood and forgotten in our world.
The stories that I have recalled from the novel and the #SayHerName movement all prove Morris’s point: that young Black girls are criminalized. Throughout this past year, I have become much more educated and aware of the problems that surround this issue, and with the help of this book, I know that education is the first step in fixing the problem. I can’t wait to keep reading and learn more!
*1- all photos included in this article were taken by me
Works Cited
"In Memoriam." AAPF, www.aapf.org/in-memorium. Accessed 4 Apr. 2021.
Morris, Monique W., et al. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.
"In Memoriam." AAPF, www.aapf.org/in-memorium. Accessed 4 Apr. 2021.
Morris, Monique W., et al. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.
Paperback edition. ed., New York, New Press, 2018.
"Say Her Name." SHN Report, July 2015, static1.squarespace.com/static/53f20d90e4b0b80451158d8c/t/5edc95fba357687217b08fb8/15915146354 87/SHNReportJuly2015. pdf. Accessed 31 Mar. 2021.
"Say Her Name." SHN Report, July 2015, static1.squarespace.com/static/53f20d90e4b0b80451158d8c/t/5edc95fba357687217b08fb8/15915146354 87/SHNReportJuly2015. pdf. Accessed 31 Mar. 2021.
Hi Maddy!
ReplyDeleteI really loved your blog post! I think it was very well written and you brought up important points. I liked how you talked about your experiences at the BLM Protest. I was also very interested in the fact that you brought up the #SayHerName movement. Darnesha Harris' story was fascinating as well. The way her life ended was no doubt because of her skin color. Derrinesha Clay’s story brings in the relevance of mental illness within the Black community. Do you have any predictions for the rest of your novel?
-Cailey :)
Hey Maddy,
ReplyDeleteI really like your insight of this book. Reading about your experience at the protest this summer was interesting, because I was unable to attend one. Also, the story about Darnesha is so heartbreaking, and I agree with you that if her skin was a different color, her life wouldn't had ended at the hands of the police. There are far too many examples of people with similar stories to Darnesha.
Hi Maddy!
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog post! I think you brought up some major topics that are currently happening in our society today. I enjoyed your own perspectives on the different movements, especially the BLM one when you were able to go to the protests yourself. (I also really liked your photography!) I think that the stories of the different ladies, Darnesha Harris and Derrinesha Clay, were very impacted to hear. Overall, Great Blog post! I am exited to hear what you think about the end of the book!
Annie H
It would be interesting to see if there are parallel cases, cases similar to the stories you have shared, where the perpetrator was white. It's shocking sometimes the treatment that white perpetrators get (usually white males) for far more deadly situations that that, say, of George Floyd. I'd be interested in seeing if the same is true for white women suspected of a crime.
ReplyDelete