RWB

Yesterday I was whining about the injustices of the world, but now I am pissed! The briefest of summaries:

37-year old black male reporter for the NY Times goes to the south to report on the way police officers treat suspected gang members.

37-year old black male reporter gets his face shoved into the dirt and handcuffed within ten minutes of his arrival, without so much as a "put your hands on your head and lay down on the ground."

Police officers find out that he's a reporter and lives in New York and release his cuffs with no apology, no explanation beyond, "You're in the south. We have different rules here."

Turns out he found his story.

My hat is off to Solomon Moore for his elegant response to such an outrageous assault. What a master of the high road! This piece is graceful and dignified, with its eye trained exclusively on what is important and away from Moore's own ego. If I am ever in a similarly difficult situation, I can only hope to be strong enough to be things like funny and true and light. It is much easier to whine, cry and be wounded.