“For the Sake of All,” was a troubling and depressing landmark report issued in May 2019 that was led by Dr. Jason Q. Purnell, then a professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. The health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis economic, education, and health disparities and their impact were considered together in the report. In a story by Chris King, who was then an editor at the St. Louis American, the report was cited as “a canary in the coal mine of the Ferguson uprising that erupted less than three months after the release of the report, mostly poor, mostly grieving, mostly Black people took to the streets of Ferguson unexpectedly stayed there for more than a year.”
This activism made many more people aware of and angered by the many persistent inequalities in the St. Louis region. It was these protests and the unrest in Ferguson that created a new generation of Black activists. Thousands took to the streets as these young activists, whose parents and even grandparents were born after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, awakened what seemed to be a thing of the past.
Ferguson was where Black Lives Matter evolved from a Twitter hashtag into a potent political movement, beyond a single moment in the news story around the Brown killing and its grimy details that unfortunately were not that unusual. However, it was the Ferguson story and the community’s enraged response that changed how the media ecosystem dealt with stories about police violence in working class Black neighborhoods.
The response to the killing of an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown and its aftermath became a pivotal point in how the country talks about race and policing. Ferguson was where Black Lives Matter evolved from a Twitter hashtag into a potent political movement, beyond a single moment in the news story around the Brown killing and its grimy details that unfortunately were not that unusual. However, it was the Ferguson story and the community’s enraged response that changed how the media ecosystem dealt with stories about police violence in working class Black neighborhoods.
An extract from “On the Other Side of Freedom” by Deray McKesson reflects a perspective that explains the intention and determination of those courageous young people. “We chose protest as a matter of survival. When we protest, we are simply individuals coming together to use power and activate hope. I have yet to meet a protestor rallying against a reality that she didn’t think she could change. From those first days in Ferguson to today, that is what the protests have done all over the country. People have been reminded that they have power, that they must stand in their power and when they do, they can change the world.”
In her recent report “Ferguson Then Now and Hope for the Future,” St. Louis American reporter, Ashley Winters writes that, “10 years after the unrest that faced the small North County suburb, Mayor Ella James has indelible scars from August 9, 2014, and the many months following. ‘Of course there are scars, that’s the way of life. You are going to fall but you must determine how you’re going to get up and brush yourself off. That’s what Ferguson is in the process of doing,’ James said.” She believes Ferguson’s story is a story of resilience, hope, and progress.
Anissa McCaskill, Forward Through Ferguson executive director, says, “that for the St. Louis region to achieve racial equality we must continue with the process of dismantling generational systemic oppression. Ferguson brought to light how isolated that community was so it’s an ongoing process even though progress has been made and the complete shift won’t happen in 10 years. Since the killing of Michael Brown and the subsequent community response, there are still demands unmet.
Still, we can take pride and feel hope in the community’s refusal to accept continued injustice and inequality. Black Americans have endured these burdens far too long. While we have seen some modest changes, the long shadow of the Ferguson tragedy lingers on. Dr. Purnell maintains that despite the wide acclaim for the report’s findings in 2014, little has changed. Moreover, he feels that in many ways things have gotten worse.
Since there is so much that remains to be done, there continues to be a need for a plan of action to ensure more is done to bring racial justice and equality to Ferguson and similar Black communities across this country.
This commentary concludes the three-part series “Ferguson 10 years after” by St. Louis American staff. Read the entire series at stlamerican.com.