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46 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | NOVEMBER 2019 Talking to Strangers Malcolm Gladwell, a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of six books uses present-day research in sociology and psychology repeatedly in his writings. His first five books are New York Times Bestsellers. His sixth book, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know, came out in September, 2019. In his book, Gladwell says, "…there was a three- year run of police cases from 2014 to 2016 involving the mistreatment of African-Americans. The one that really got to me was the death of Sandra Bland." This took place in the middle of the day; she was leaving her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University in Texas where she had just been hired, when a police officer pulled her over. The entire videotaped encounter gets out of control and ends with her death three days later. Gladwell chose to write about this incident because it was a high profile case and it showed a typical situation of strangers having a misunderstanding and something going wrong. He said, "The death of Sandra Bland is what happens when a society doesn't know how to talk to strangers." The police officer totally misinterprets Sandra's actions. She lights a cigarette and his ego got in the way after he asked her to put it out and she refused. Then he demanded she get out of the car and again she refused asking, "What did I do?" The officer finds himself in a situation he doesn't know how to handle. He makes bogus assumptions about Sandra, who is very distressed, yet the officer feels she's belligerent. There is a breakdown in communication among the police and African-Americans due to a lack of respect, sensitivity and understanding towards people who have been systematically brutalized for hundreds of years in the United States. It's not uncommon for people to be upset when they get pulled over by the police. When that happens, their emotions can be mistaken by their demeanor. If an officer believes people have to behave the way they think people should behave, the results are extreme. https://www.gladwellbooks.com/ Upcoming Event(s) Nov. 4 - Regular monthly meeting at 6 pm in the Game Room. Dec. 14 - 2019 Annual Christmas Gala For more information, contact Joyce Allen at (951) 769- 4354 or Roxie Elliott at (951) 769-2517. ~ Regina Thomas African American Cultural Club The Four Seasons Amateur Radio Club has its mission to: 1. Prepare for and assist in emergency communications for the HOA and its management company; 2. Recruit and train new members for the club; 3. Continue to educate our members in the radio and communication arts and maintain our capabilities as radio communicators; 4. Share our experiences and maintain our friendships as amateur radio operators. Please come to one of our meetings held the last Friday of each month at 10 am in the RCN Conference Room and see what we're about! ~Jim Peterson, jimsally@hotmail.com RADIO CLUB Malcolm Gladwell, journalist, author, speaker Vice President Fred Plenge captures video for inclusion in the club's new website

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