This recent interview with Jamiles Lartey is the most enlightening discussions I’ve heard on the topic of race & policing. Complex issues like protest dynamics, reform implementation, and police unions, are all touched upon to outline a bigger picture of our current situation. Specific events, like the Central Park birdwatching incident, are cited as parts of the systemic whole:
And part of the reason that the Amy Coopers of the world feel so comfortable using the police as their own kind of personal racism valet is because that’s in line with how they’ve operated in our society. Which is to say, even if you or I or we have never called the police on a black person for some deeply unserious reason, as a society we outsource the keeping of the racial order to police every day. … And this is so important: Officers themselves do not have to be ideologically white supremacist to be performing that function.
It can be tempting to settle on easy answers when causes of a problem are so deeply rooted. Discussions like this that don’t shy away from reality are vital. You can listen to the full interview or read a partial transcript at npr.org.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
