On May 25, 2020, a white Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by holding him down with a knee on his neck for over 8 minutes. This was done while three other officers either helped in holding down Mr. Floyd down or stood by watching.
Mr. Floyd’s death is an unimaginable horror as it was not the result of a split-second or hair-trigger decision, but a callous, calculated effort that lasted more than 8 minutes.
This killing kicked off a week of protests which grew darker as the nights went on. As many as 81 buildings in Minneapolis have been burned, with 25 of them completely destroyed, and 270 businesses have been vandalized since Mr. Floyd’s death.
This hits home for Tim and Kurt. Tim lives only a few miles from the epicenter but has had people racing down his street, as they were deterred from the closed freeways by roadblocks – some of them threatening his neighbors with harm. Kurt lives only blocks away from where some of the protests occurred and could smell the smoke and tear gas in the air, hear the chants of protesters, and see the police and national guard units patrolling up and down his street in the middle of the night as they stood watch to protect the neighborhood. The bank and post office that were burned down is where Kurt did his banking and sent his mail from.
The loss of property in no way compares to the loss of human life – that is, Mr. Floyd’s life – and in no way compares to the hundreds of years of black suppression. These are terrible tragedies on many levels.
We’ve decided to talk about this on this podcast because it is personal for us – we have gone through a range of emotions and we thought that many of you might have been going through the same. There have been similar incidents of outrage and protests in the past – Eric Garner and Michael Brown are just two that come to mind – but this one seems different. Maybe it’s different because we live here and it’s so close…but maybe it’s different because it was the last straw that finally tipped the scales…let’s hope so.
Links
Tally of Buildings Damaged in Minneapolis: https://www.startribune.com/these-minneapolis-st-paul-buildings-are-damaged-looted-after-george-floyd-protests/569930671/
Kareem Abdul Jabar – People Pushed to the Edge: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-30/dont-understand-the-protests-what-youre-seeing-is-people-pushed-to-the-edge
“Psychological Research Explains Why People Protest” Forbes, May 20, 2020. By Nicole Fisher: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolefisher/2020/05/29/the-psychology-of-protests-reveals-why-americans-are-ready-for-action/#334d1f3bbbb6
White guy with AR-15 vs. Black guy with AR-15 video: https://www.facebook.com/KeithKuder/videos/866107570115697
Groove Track | Why It Takes More Than Willpower To Reach Your Goals
Why Random Rewards Feel So Much Better Than Earned Ones with Richard Shotton
Want Marketing That’s Effective? Use a Behavioral Science Perspective | Nancy Harhut
Can Psychology Tell Us What Makes A Good Life? With Paul Bloom, Part 2
Psychology: Should Freud Still Be On The Syllabus? Paul Bloom, Part 1
What Do You Really Want? Understand The Desires We All Share | Charlotte Fox Weber
How One Small Word Can Transform Our Motivation, Success And Relationships | Jonah Berger
A Guide To The Ambitious Future of Behavioral Science with Michael Hallsworth PhD
Surprising Ways To End Poverty and Solve Climate Change with Erik Angner PhD
Why You Don‘t Need to be Powerful to be Influential | Vanessa Bohns [Republish]
You Work. You Parent. But Can You Also Thrive? | Yael Schonbrun PhD
The Tools You Need To Embrace Uncertainty | Nathan Furr and Susannah Harmon Furr
How To Frame Incentives To Drive The Desired Behavior | James Castello
The Myth of the “Relationship Spark” with Logan Ury, featuring guest appearance by Christina Gravert, PhD [Republish]
Why Resilience Is More Than Just Bouncing Back | Gabriella Rosen Kellerman MD
Why Human Connection Is The Key To Effective Branding | Matt Johnson
Why The Best Choice Can Sometimes Be An Imperfect Choice | Michelle Segar PhD
Top 2 Tips on How to Read a Book Quickly
How Behavioral Science Can Tackle Misinformation And Obesity | Evelyn Gosnell
The 3 Steps To Getting Your Groove Back In The New Year
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Poetry of Science
Hidden Brain
Choiceology with Katy Milkman
The Psychology Podcast
The Science of Happiness