Strange Fruit

Three years ago this week, a Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Like many people across the country, we were stunned, and saddened at the loss of life and lack of justice. We asked Lucie Brooks to join us in the studio that week, and help us analyze the cases presented by both the prosecution and defense, and what may have lead to the not-guilty verdict. Lucie taught us about jury demographics and how they affect trial outcomes (Zimmerman's just was made up of five white women and one Puerto Rican woman). And we also talked about something more personal: Lucie's experiences as the white mom of four black sons. Just over a year later, a police officer shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri. Protests sprung up in the neighborhood, and the police responded with curfews and riot squads. International media descended on the St. Louis suburb. We thought surely things would change. Police departments would implement extra training abo