INTS100: Annotated Bibliography

Hunt, Andrew E. The Turning: a History of Vietnam Veterans against the War. New York University Press, 2001.  

A book written by Andrew Hunt on the history of Vietnam Veterans Against the War organization. 

Andrew Hunt describes the anti-vietnam war movement from the perspective of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Descriptions of the Vietnam war by service members provided a narrative contrary to the main stream media. The movement generated by the members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War provided raw information of the personal experiences in Vietnam that led it to become against the war rather than just informing the public. The intent was to use their voices to end the war in Vietnam. This source was useful to my media artifact bring context to the significance of the voices of veterans who support transparency, honesty, and an end to war. The protest over the summer seemed peaceful until the Seattle Police Department and the news media began to favor military type movements to subdue the protestors.  

Escobar, Natalie. “The Ties That Bind Muhammad Ali to the NFL Protests.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 19 Oct. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/connections-between-muhammad-ali-and-nfl-protests-180965310/.

This is an online article written by Natalie Escobar written to compare Muhammad Ali's experience and Colin Kaepernick's experience. 

Natalie Escobar's article reflected on the apparent racist roots of the injustices that Kaepernich and Ali were subjected to when they decided to speak against racism in the United States. Although both had different reasons to speak on the racist injustices they had been subjected to, media scrutinization, economic losses, and defamation were common for them as Black men who spoke against racism in this country. This article helped inform my perspective as a veteran against the militarization of the Seattle Police Department and their assertion to forcefully subdue peaceful protestors. I saw the several pieces of footage of police confrontations with protestors and they did not merit the escalation of force common in combat situations. It was a gross abuse of power to silence protestor in their efforts to support their causes.  

Reinka, Mora A., and Colin Wayne Leach. “Race and Reaction: Divergent Views of Police Violence and Protest Against.” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 73, no. 4, Dec. 2017, pp. 768–788. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/josi.12247.

This is an 18 page scholarly article that researches different perspectives of police violence. It was written by Mora A. Reinka and Colin Wayne Leach. 

This article was significant to the context of my media artifact because it focused on the racial disparities of law enforcement. The use of the military or military tactics by local police departments assumes an 'us' versus 'them' binary opposition. In combat, military service members are given clear guidance on what a lawful combatant is but within an American city the details are complex for a reason - constititutional rights. Protestor are fulfilling a constitutional right not a national security violation. At face value, militarization of police departments may appear to provide local security and it hides the racist underlying intentions. I was not surprised that Black American were strongly more opposed to deadly force used by the police than White Americans because, statistically, more Black Americans males are subjected to deadly force by seven times compared to White American males. This disparity occured in the faith of the legal justice system because Black Americans believed the investigation into Michael Brown's death was at 18 percent whereas White Americans faith in the investigation was three times that of Black Americans. This article reflected on the racial comparison on matters such as portrayal of the killings of Black American's, opinions regarding the use of deadly force by police officers, a comparision by race on the emotional feedback when viewing photos of the Black Lives Matters movement etc. The language used to support the militarization of the police department or use of deadly force that is presented at face value in the media as necessary measures to maintain law and order but this article ties in the racial disparities entrenched in local law enforcement. 

Schoonmaker, Pete. “Follow Your Conscience.” Veterans For Peace Greater Seattle, Chapter 92, 25 June 2020, www.vfp92.org/2020/06/11/follow-your-conscience/. 

This is an image of an advertisement purchased by the Veteran's For Peace Greater Seattle, Chapter 92. The purpose of the advertisement was to compel active military service members to connect with their conscience if they should recieve activations orders to support local police departments handling the protest. 

This image was significant to providing historical context to the protest that occured in Seattle over the summer. The advertisement includes the phrase, "American streets are not the "Battlespace". The American people do not need to be "dominated" by their own military". This reminded of other instances where military language is used to start assembling the scene for Americans welcoming the idea of the military in American cities. In my experience, the military mindset does not question an order and executes it. For the organization to reach out to the National Gaurd and active military service members through popular newspaper, The Ranger, with a compelling message for them to listen to their conscience and setting the reality that Seattle is not the 'Battle Space'. The President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, made repeated and concerted efforts to call protestors domestic terrorists which leads to the assumption that protestors could be consider lawful combatants. 

Verlee, Megan. “No Longer Bound By Military Restrictions, Veterans Join Protests Around The Country.” WUSF Public Media, 21 Aug. 2020, wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/2020-06-03/no-longer-bound-by-military-restrictions-veterans-join-protests-around-the-country. 

This was an article written by Megan Verlee and was used to highlight the decision for veterans to participate police brutality protests. 

This article includes the opinions of two veterans, Aubrey Rose and Shenika Mosely. Aubrey Rose describes the escalation of force by police officers as appalling and would likely result in penalization under the Universal Code of Military Justice. Shenika Mosely expresses concern that the escalation of force by the police on the protestors could execute a move to bring in military service members to support police departments. Shenika Mosely refers to the Kent Massacre as a incident that occured when the military was called in to handle American protestors. This article helped inform the context of my media artifact by representing a shared opinion that I had and it the positive effect of finding other veterans who were providing an opinion against police brutality that was founded on the military experience of the two veterans.