“We remember Justin Walker. We remember Jason Slater. We remember Darius Houston. We remember Raana Lewis. We remember Mansur Ball-Bey.” The list of names became longer as surviving mothers of deceased children joined together in honoring and remembering the names of their late children.
Cal and Michael Brown Sr., the stepmother and father of Michael Brown Jr., who was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer on August 9, 2014, have turned their pain into purpose by establishing the Chosen For Change Foundation. The foundation provides community support, outreach programs, activities, events and more to grieving families of deceased children.
While the Browns lost their child in a police shooting, the organization has a broader mission and supports families who lost children through other circumstances.
The “Mother’s of An Angel” brunch event was held Sunday, May 7, 2023, at Delmar Divine in partnership with The T and DivasNDishes. The event gives grieving mothers an opportunity to share the loss of a child with mothers who’ve had a similar experience.
There was African dance, a mime praise dance performance, solos, and poems. Most importantly, there were words of encouragement, and an outpouring of love.
“Put your hands together like you deserve,” host J. Mitchell said. “You’re sitting next to survivors. You’re sitting next to other women that never thought they would make it through the things you’ve been through.”
“You’re sitting next to Black sisters, Black mothers, Black aunts, Black cousins, Black nieces who have been through some things that we would have never thought we would make it through. You deserve the world and the world deserves you.”
Cal Brown created the brunch three years ago after receiving phone calls from mothers who voiced to her there was not an outlet in St. Louis for grieving mothers. She posted an inquiry online looking for grieving mothers who would be interested in being part of the brunch. The response was overwhelming.
“I put out a post expecting about 40 women to reach out and received over 360 [inquiries],” she said.
She said she always had the intention of providing other women with the same love she would expect in return if she were to lose any of her biological kids. Both years, she presented personalized gifts to each mothers and had pictures displayed of their children.
The tradition ended this year “because it is difficult to see [the photos], as it is unfortunate to lose a child.”
“I love you, honor you, and celebrate you today,” she said to the mothers.
“But I also protect myself. It’s a hard pill to swallow. I don’t wanna try to imagine what it is you all go through on a daily basis. I deal with a grieving father and I wanna love you all in a way that God forbid if I ever had to go down that road [lose a biological child] this is the way I would want people to show up for me.”
Jason Watson, senior vice president of engagement at Mission: St. Louis shared the impact his sister’s murder had on his mother and shared some words of encouragement.
Tammy Renae told her fellow mothers “let go of guilt and shame,” and to not hold themselves responsible for what happened to their child.
At the conclusion of the brunch, every mom was given a balloon to release.
“We just wanna release the balloon in memory of our loved ones and all of us can say a small prayer to ourselves before we release our loved one,” Brown Sr. said.
