“I am so proud of Ferguson, Missouri and St. Louis for what you guys have done. You’ve shown how to do this thing,” said Ron Davis.
As Ferguson came undone in response to the death of Michael Brown Jr. last year, Davis was suffering through the second trial for Michael Dunn – the man who would ultimately be convicted of first-degree murder for killing his 17-year-old son Jordan Davis, in the so-called “loud music murder case.”
Jordan and his three friends had their car blasted with a barrage of bullets after an argument ensued when Dunn demanded that the teens turn off that “thug music” in Jacksonville, Florida in 2013.
His friends survived, but Jordan – who was hit three times in the chest – died instantly.
“Sitting in Jacksonville, it was a spiritual experience for me to see you all out there because no one had ever seen anything like it,” Ron told the crowd. “You kept at it. Weeks would go by and months would go by, and you guys were still out there pounding the pavement.”
He was also visibly overwhelmed by the size of the audience that nearly filled the auditorium of Washington University’s Science Laboratory building on Thursday, August 6 to see the his son’s story unfold through the film “3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets.” The screening was part of the commemoration activities for the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown Jr.
“Just for you to make the decision to come out here tonight means that you are all soldiers in here,” Ron said.
The film by Marc Silver shares a first person look at the family’s heart-wrenching journey as they attempt to navigate through the unimaginable tragedy.
Also woven in are home videos, photos and footage from the family archives that offer a glimpse into the heart and spirit of their son.
“We had been watching what had happened with Trayvon and we felt so disheartened about what we were seeing before our very eyes with how he was demonized,” Jordan’s mother Lucy McBath said.
“We had discussions with Jordan about that very thing and we decided very early on after the same thing happened to our child that we would tell our story.”
The audience also got insight into the painstaking process of the trial from the comprehensive documentary. Though it was proven in court that neither Jordan nor the young men in the vehicle with him were armed, Dunn blamed them – and the absence of fathers in the black community – for what happened. He even went so far as to commend himself for potentially saving a life by killing Jordan.
“God has touched me throughout this whole situation for me not to choke the devil out of this man,” Ron said.
At trial, Ron and Jordan’s mother were told not to cry too much or gesture in ways that could be taken as eliciting sympathy from the jury and lead to mistrial. While Dunn’s parents sat in the front row, he and McBath weren’t able to do so because it might have created bias.
Most shockingly, he shared how Jordan was not allowed to be referred to as a victim over the course of the trial.
“Three bullets to the chest, but you’re not a victim?” Ron said.
In the post-discussion, a panel facilitated by the PICO National Network discussed the national pattern of aggressively policing people of color in public spaces for any given reason.
“I have welcomed three or four more fathers into the circle since this tragedy,” Ron said. “I welcomed Mike Brown Sr. into the circle. I was in Ferguson last August. I actually took this to the Geneva, Switzerland to the United Nations and spoke about you all in Ferguson to the United Nations, and they applauded everything that you all are doing.”
The feeling was mutual as guests and program participants expressed their reaction to the film.
“There is power in this film, because we have faced so many losses and defeats that we need a victory to keep us going,” a woman said. “Every non-indictment and every murder is taking a psychological and spiritual toll on us individually and as a people. But when I watched this film, I got a sense of hope.”
