Justice Through Social Media: The Internet Can Be More Important Than Your Lawyer, the Government, and the Police
If what had happened to Trayvon Martin happened in the 1960's or 70's, odds are you wouldn't even know who he is. There'd be no marches, no rallies, no t-shirts, and no candlelight vigils. By all accounts, his file and his story would be buried deep in a stock room somewhere, along with countless others who were unjustly slaughtered then forgotten, and whose attackers went free.
Now, imagine, it's the 1930's and it happened to a woman, and the attacker was an employee of Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, the movie studio which virtually had a lock on all things Hollywood back in the day.
Patricia Douglas wasn't murdered. She was raped. Nonetheless, by all accounts, her life ended on that cold night in May, 1937. A young dancer, and still a virgin, she was invited to MGM, along with dozens of other young women, to be extras in what they were told was a movie. It wasn't until they were brought into the banquet room at the Hal Roach Ranch, and saw over two hundred drunken MGM salesmen carrying on wildly, the girls realized they were the entertainment.