Ferguson: Three Minutes that Changed America

by Wesley Lowery, The Washington Post

From the Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post comes a meticulously detailed, insightful report on the killing that brought the nation's attention to a city coming apart at the seams.
12:00 Officer Darren Wilson turns his Chevy Tahoe police cruiser left on Canfield Drive.
12:01 Wilson orders two young men, Dorian Johnson and Michael Brown, to get out of the street.
12:04 Michael Brown lays dying from bullet wounds.
Three minutes in middle America shook a nation to its foundation. To many, it shone a spotlight on the frequently violent, often deadly interactions between young men of color and police departments. It highlighted the racial disparity in policing techniques, in response to crime, and in how race relations are perceived in an America where many incorrectly pride the country on being "post-racial."
Renowned journalist Wesley Lowery has pulled together a vast and troubling panorama of reportage on the Ferguson slaying, and the aftermath--the marches, the clashes, and the slow, painful process of building trust between a devastated community and a police department tasked with serving and protecting it.
Challenging and necessary, Ferguson engages America in a frank and necessary dialogue about race relations, about legacies of bigotry that continue to this day, and about a path forward as one nation, equal under the law.
Contributors Joel Achenbach, Mark Berman, Lindsey Bever, Jeremy Borden, Amy Brittain, DeNeen L. Brown, Philip Bump, Jessica Contrera, Jahi Chikwendiu, Niraj Chokshi, Robert Costa, Alice Crites, David A. Fahrenthold, Darryl Fears, Marc Fisher, J. Freedom du Lac, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Chico Harlan, Dana Hedgpeth, Peter Hermann, Scott Higham, Peter Holley, Sari Horwitz, Greg Jaffe, Sarah Kaplan, Kimbriell Kelly, Kimberly Kindy, Sarah Larimer, Carol D. Leonnig, Jerry Markon, Michael E. Miller, David Montgomery, Brian Murphy, David Nakamura, Abby Phillip, Steven Rich, Manuel Roig-Franzia, Robert Samuels, Sandhya Somashekhar, John Sullivan, Julie Tate, Krissah Thompson, Neely Tucker.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race

59 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2015

Reviews

[Pachy Pedia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro es una buena manera de conocer cómo y porqué surgió el movimiento Black lives matter, de la mano de un gran periodista.

[Andrew Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wesley Lowery is an incredible, thoughtful reporter. this is essentially a compendium of his work at the washington post over the past year, with a little bit of editing for continuity and consistency. a straight-ahead, solid, on-the-ground recap of #Ferguson, and why it matters, over the past year.

[Blake Facey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good summary of the events in Ferguson and those after. Could use a bit more polish, but I'm sure will be cleaned up in other versions.

[Ciera Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wesley Lowery did an excellent job reporting what happened in Ferguson. The Killing of Michael Brown changed america indeed.

[Lianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ebook is a collection of Washington Post reporting about Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson and its aftermath. The timeline jumped around a bit and there was some repetition, but this book was a short, helpful explanation of one particular instance of police brutality and the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically a bind-up of a year’s worth of Washington Post coverage. The event is sad and frustrating and brutal, the coverage is wise and compassionate and empathetic. A worthwhile read.

[Carmen Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer on recent developments in race relations, justice, and police violence, shining a light on the formation of Black Lives Matter and the deaths of (often unarmed) Black men around the country at the hands of (often white) police officers. The writing felt a bit choppy at times, and in places the timeline of events was unclear, bouncing back and forth in time, but overall a balanced and edifying look at a protest movement stemming from deep systematic injustice and outright murder. Seasoned activists and people experiencing the direct effects of police brutality won't find much surprising in here, but a good 101-level introduction for the layperson. Made me very interested to read Lowery's They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement, particularly because in the course of my research I found out he went to high school in the area where I'm currently living.