Kristian Williams

Three items:

1- I have a review essay at Toward Freedom, looking at the new collection of George Orwell’s poetry and considering what his poetics reveal about his prose.

2- I was interviewed by WFHB in Bloomington, Indiana about community policing, militarization, and the criminalization of poverty. My bit is followed by an interview with the police chief.

3- Will Potter quoted me in a short, interesting article about FBI documents showing that their agents decided not to interview a spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front because he had never answered their questions before and had publicized their investigations in the media. The lessons here are pretty clear: If you don’t want to talk to the FBI, you should start by not talking to the FBI. Do, however, talk to other people about what the FBI is doing.

I have a short interview in the new film by Scott Noble, Plutocracy: Divide et Impera (Divide and Rule). The movie offers a look at the role of class conflict in U.S. history, especially in the nineteenth century. I (predictably) talk about the role of the police.

Meanwhile —

I was interested to see a blog post about Our Enemies in Blue by Greg Saville, a former cop turned public safety consultant. He begins: “This week I heard from two old friends, an ex-police chief and a current chief. … [O]ne offered, “there needs to be a new narrative”. The other, surprisingly, referred me to the controversial anti-police book by Kristian Williams, Our Enemies in Blue: Police Power in America.” He clearly disagrees with a lot of my conclusions, but the review is pretty fair, and he even defends me against a troll in the comment section: “Even unpopular anti-police critiques are worth a read!”

It’s strange to think of a police chief reading my book, and stranger to think of him recommending it to a friend. I wonder what they get out of it.

On November 15, I’ll be presenting at the Howard Zinn Book Fair, alongside Windy Click of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. I’ll talk a little about Our Enemies in Blue and Fire the Cops, and Windy will discuss CCWP, but then I think most of the hour will be open for a broader discussion.

Here are the details:

Sunday, November 15, 2015, 11am – noon
Rosa Luxumburg Room (room 214)
City College of San Francisco, Mission Campus (1125 Valencia)

Here’s a round-up of the published excerpts from the new edition of Our Enemies in Blue:

“On Police Injustice: ‘Fires of Rebellion Burn with Rage, but they Shine with Hope’.” Truthout. September 18, 2015.

“A Storm in New Orleans: Looking Back at Katrina.” International Socialist Review. Fall 2015.

“A Look at Feminist Forms of Justice that Don’t Involve the Police.” BitchMedia.org. August 20, 2015. (Reprinted in Toward Freedom. August 26, 2015.)

“Looking Left, Leaning Right.” Toward Freedom. August 4, 2015.

“Poverty Crime, Privileged Crime: Policing and Economic Inequality.” Dollars and Sense. July/August 2015.

“Civil Rights With Guns: Alternatives to Police in the Black Freedom Movement.” Oregon Humanities. Summer 2015.