MICHAEL BROWN: TO PERSONALIZE, GENERALIZE, OR BOTH

Some people personalize. Other people generalize. A few do both. Only the dead do neither. Shared experiences affect us similarly, yet differently. Michael Brown's killing and its sequel is a shared experience affecting us all. Whether to personalize, to generalize, or to do both, with respect to it, is an individual choice, depending on our prior experiences and feelings. If personalized, it is Michael's Brown's and his family and friends' tragedy. If generalized, it is both that, and either a St. Louis or black people or U.S. or global tragedy. No one can remain unaffected in America nor in the world. Due to social media, we are interconnected as never before instantly. Knowledge of such a horrific event affects us viscerally and subliminally, however we choose to display, or not to display, its impact, its affect on us.