美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Whose Streets?' Follows Unrest In Ferguson, Mo., After Michael Brown's Death

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's been three years since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. The documentary "Whose Streets?" takes place in Ferguson, but it doesn't explore what happened to Michael Brown. Instead it's about what happened to Ferguson after Brown's death and after a grand jury decided¹ not to indict² the police officer who shot him - the protests...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Chanting) Stand up.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) For Michael Brown.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Chanting) Stand up.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) For Michael Brown.

CORNISH: ...The narratives⁴ that emerged in news media...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: And as sundown approaches, officials are fearful of another night of looting and violence.

CORNISH: ...And the community of Ferguson residents who became activists⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KAYLA REED: They say that building burning is worse than a black person getting shot - right? - because this building serviced white people, and this black body did not.

CORNISH: That's St. Louis activist⁵ Kayla Reed. Filmmakers Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis followed several of these activists to tell their story.

DAMON DAVIS: It was just a real big thing for us to show the communal⁷ aspect to this and the ecosystem⁸ that it takes to run a successful movement, you know? It's people from all walks of life, different backgrounds, race, color, creed⁹, gender¹⁰, sexual orientation¹¹. But all of these people came together for a moment.

SABAAH FOLAYAN: And we really wanted to create a film that gave a sense of community. The challenge there was that in storytelling, we're so accustomed to seeing a narrative³ that has one hero, and we follow them through their journey. So in the edit, it was really about trying to figure out ways to weave in the other folks in a way that didn't feel like they were just talking heads.

CORNISH: There's another character in this movie, which is the media - the national media.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Good evening. The images from this weekend of violence in the streets, stores being looted...

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #3: Crowds of people breaking into stores along West Florissant overnight.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #4: The police chief of St. Louis County told the reporters the violence is destroying this city.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #5: You see bottles of booze come out, a lot of open containers.

CORNISH: What role do you think the media had in telling this story?

FOLAYAN: I think the media, if I'm being frank, was very irresponsible in telling this story because it seemed like their No. 1 priority was ratings and sensationalism. And they wanted to be there for the clashes and not really go much deeper into investigating what was happening. What were the tensions at play? What was the history at play? What was really going on?

CORNISH: Can you give an example of that?

FOLAYAN: I think one specific example would be the night of the non-indictment or maybe one night after that.

CORNISH: And this is the non-indictment of Darren Wilson, the officer who did shoot Michael Brown.

FOLAYAN: Right. People were gathered that evening, waiting for the decision. And then, you know, things kind of erupted from there. You know, they were using pepper spray. They were using tear gas. They were using rubber bullets. And then we turned on the news, and there was this conversation going, well, they didn't use tear gas; it was smoke. And it was just so absurd to have lived through this experience and see, you know, a version of the story being told to millions of people that was just totally inaccurate¹². And I - you know, I still wonder where those breakdowns¹³ occurred and why, you know, no one was willing to push back on some of these narratives.

CORNISH: And also the ramp-up in the montage of clips. The idea was that there was going to be a riot, that people are going to react a certain way. And it was interesting being on the other side of the lens through your film where people had not planned (laughter) to riot, right?

DAVIS: Exactly. And I think when you say there's going to be a riot and you show all of this prep work, that's an open invitation for police to antagonize people. And then when people get up in arms, some property damage happens. Then the police are justified¹⁴ in using all of that weaponry that they had accumulated in this riot situation that was supposed to happen. So I think the police helped to create that situation, that anxiety that wasn't really there in the first place.

CORNISH: You guys also use social media to great effect, kind of cellphones videos and images.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "WHOSE STREETS?")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: We are marching down West Florissant towards a police barricade¹⁵ at Ferguson.

CORNISH: How do you find that stuff, and why did you think that was an important way to tell this particular story?

FOLAYAN: It was really just, you know, legwork. We just searched Twitter, searched Instagram, Google.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "WHOSE STREETS?")

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We got to be our own keeper. We got to...

FOLAYAN: It felt important because I think that just generally we have not yet reckoned with the gravity of the digital revolution and how it's really changed the way that we relate to one another. And so for me personally, it was really important having there be this collage¹⁶ of different types of input¹⁷, text and video and these short clips and, you know, longer - more still shots.

CORNISH: In a way, did you feel like it was telling the real story?

DAVIS: Yeah. And I think when you're standing¹⁸ really close to it, you don't know how far it's reaching. But citizen journalism¹⁹ and people with cellphones and things of that nature have opened up this whole conversation about police brutality²⁰ and police militarization.

CORNISH: Did you end up talking to the police or the mayor? And if so, why didn't you include them in the film?

FOLAYAN: Yeah, we definitely did. We interviewed the mayor twice. We interviewed one of the police chiefs. We interviewed retired²¹ officers, the city manager. Ultimately none of those folks were really willing or able to break out of their talking points. And we felt like we could use this platform better by showing real human stories.

CORNISH: Well, one of the consequences of that are people kind of questioning the objectivity, so to speak, of the film. And I know, Sabaah, you've said that the film's a recognition that facts and truth are not the same thing. What did you mean by that?

FOLAYAN: You can find a fact to prove almost any point that you want, but I think that there is a truth that resonates. It's a truth that you can feel. It can't always be articulated in words. It can't always be encapsulated with numbers, but you know it because it resonates. And I think that's why this film resonates with people. I think that's what we were really trying to get at with telling this story - is going deeper than the numbers and getting to that real human space.

CORNISH: Damon Davis, for you, this is your community. And this film was, you know, several years in the making. What kind of personal toll²² has it taken on you?

DAVIS: It's just been difficult trying to walk a line of being an artist and being charged with being a storyteller for a lot of people that trust you but also, like, making sure that this story is cohesive²³ and it makes sense - so a difficult process in that regard and also, like, never having time to actually deal with my own trauma²⁴ or situations that I - that happened to me while protesting or while doing this stuff. So it's still well worth it because we need this story to be told. And in particular, we need it to be told in a way where someone from this place and that lived these things was in the room when it was being put together.

CORNISH: I get the sense, Damon, that there - this is an effort to lay down your own official narrative, to not let it be left to be told by the news clips.

DAVIS: Definitely, definitely. We had an opportunity here to make something. The side of the underdog is to be told by the underdog. And for the first time, we got to tell our own story. And I think that that's really, really important.

And I think since we started this journey, one of the main things we wanted to talk about is that - is, specifically in documentary filmmaking, there's always someone else, some outsider from outside of the community that parachutes in. They get all of the goods. They get all of the stories. And they are constantly extracting stories and life from people without proper context for the world that they came into and without any accountability to those people. And I think we got to do something very different here because we are those people.

CORNISH: Well Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan, thank you so much for speaking with us.

DAVIS: Thank you.

FOLAYAN: Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF TULPA'S "THE BIRDS AND BEES")

CORNISH: The film is called "Whose Streets?" It's out in theaters this weekend.

(SOUNDBITE OF TULPA'S "THE BIRDS AND BEES")

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

3 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

4 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

8 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

9 creed   

n.信条；信念，纲领

参考例句：

• They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
• Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。

10 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

11 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

12 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

13 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

14 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

15 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

16 collage   

n.拼贴画；v.拼贴；把……创作成拼贴画

参考例句：

• A collage of coloured paper covers a table top.一副彩纸拼贴画盖在桌面上。
• He has used a mixture of mosaic,collage and felt-tip pen.他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。

17 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

20 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

21 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

22 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

23 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

24 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。