Citizen Revolt: Week of December 2
Police Shootings Examined, Partisanship in Utah, Enemies, Opponents and Friends, Are You a Racist?
By Katharine Biele @kathybiele
Police Shootings Examined
If you still mourn the loss of your daily newspaper, you might want to join The Salt Lake Tribune as it takes the next steps into good journalism. Check out the hour-long documentary Shots Fired, which "focuses on a unique Tribune-created database of police shootings and offers rare footage of police training. ... The team of journalists requested hundreds of police records, watched hours of body camera footage and talked to dozens of families for this project," the paper reports. Reporters spent the past year working with the PBS series Frontline to produce this extraordinary look at Utah police shootings, including how they are happening and what laws might be changed to avoid them in the future. You can waitlist to join a free screening of Shots Fired, or view the documentary online. Brewvies, 677 S. 200 West, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m. Free/waitlist at https://bit.ly/3nQ3E1M. Online, view at https://bit.ly/3CXSKv3
Partisanship in Utah
Think you know all you need to know about political partisanship in Utah? It's all GOP, right? That's pretty much the case, according to Ballotpedia. "Utah has a Republican trifecta and a Republican triplex. The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, attorney general and both chambers of the state Legislature." It's daunting to be a Democrat, or certainly a third party in this state. And the country as a whole isn't much different. "As of Nov. 26, 2021, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control." But there's more to the story, as you will discover in the Utah Foundation's most recent video Utahns' Concerns by Political Party. The video not only looks at the differences between the political parties, but also at changes over time. Online, free. https://bit.ly/3EbCDeZ
Enemies, Opponents and Friends
There's a lot of talk about collaboration at home and abroad, but mostly in this divided world, it's just a lot of talk. "Collaboration with the enemy is a political 'offense.' Collaboration with friends is a political necessity and collaboration with opponents presents a puzzle in need of careful exploration and judgment," say organizers of Collaboration and Democracy: Confronting Enemies, Opponents and Friends. This webinar will bring speakers from Afghanistan, South Africa, the United States, Brazil and Poland to speak about their various political experiences and how they deal with them. Virtual, Friday, Dec. 3, 9 a.m. Free/register at https://bit.ly/3xt3FeV
Are You a Racist?
Does it ever seem like it's only the people who aren't racists that want to end racism? In Supporting All of Us: Teaching Against Hate, Bias and Injustice, you will hear about ways "that engage the realities of our society, past and present." That's a big task, which UC Davis invites viewers to take on in the fifth installment of its online series. Virtual, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 5 p.m., free/suggested $5 donation. https://bit.ly/30WiTgZ
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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