A Brief History of People the New York Times Has Called “No
Angel”  Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 11.00.06 AM  Yesterday, the
New York Times published a profile of Michael Brown, the unarmed
18-year-old killed by police officer Darren Wilson just over two
weeks ago. The article, which ran in tandem with a profile of
Wilson, attempts to give a more nuanced picture of a young man
whose life was so needlessly, brutally ended. The article does
not do this. Rather, it serves no narrative other than that
which seeks to find Brown complicit in his own murder. John
Eligon, who wrote the piece, pointed to everything from Brown’s
interest in rap to the fact that he colored on the wall as a
child to demonstrate that he was a young man who had
“problems.”   But perhaps most notable is the fact that Eligon
sums up Brown as being “no angel,” a designation that serves to
do nothing more than cast a shadow over the character of a young
man who was shot six times, whose body was left in the street
for hours in the midday sun. Why