Participants in the NAACP’s “Journey for Justice” march concluded their 134-mile trek from Ferguson to Jefferson City on Friday, December 5. They marched seeking systemic change to the criminal justice system and justice for Michael Brown Jr.
The march began a week before in the Canfield Green Apartments in Ferguson, where the unarmed teen was shot and killed by now former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on August 9.
Maida Coleman, director of the state’s new Office of Community Engagement, addressed marchers and supporters at a “Journey for Justice” rally in the State Capitol Rotunda. Brown’s mother and step-father, Lesley McSpadden and Louis Head, also spoke.
“They thanked us for the work we were doing, and we reaffirmed our commitment to work with them on getting some justice,” said St. Louis City NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt.
Many packed into the State Capitol Rotunda including a “good contingency” of young Ferguson protestors, Pruitt said.
Gov. Jay Nixon said in a statement on Friday that he was honored to have met with the leadership of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization on Wednesday, December 3. That evening Gov. Nixon met with national NAACP President Cornell Brooks in his office in the Capitol. The Governor invited Brooks and other national and state NAACP leaders to meet with him and key members of his administration, including Coleman, her deputy director Marvin Teer and Dan Isom, director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
“Through honest dialogue and mutual respect, I’m confident that together we can make meaningful change to address the challenges underlying the events in Ferguson, and build a future of greater peace, opportunity and fairness for all,” Nixon said in a release.
Pruitt said the meeting went fairly well and that Nixon seemed sincere in his efforts to help move the St. Louis region forward. NAACP leaders discussed with Nixon their discontent with the “flawed” grand jury process, led by St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch, that failed to indict Wilson in Brown’s death – and renewed their call for a special prosecutor.
Pruitt said the group also met with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, who is expected to run for Governor to succeed the term-limited Nixon.
“He also agrees that this is a moment in time where we all need to get it right and make sure we address the long-term problems,” Pruitt said of Koster.
Pruitt reflected on their march through Linn, Missouri by phone late on Thursday, December 4.
“It’s been a long day,” Pruitt said. “We’ve been dealing with a lot of stuff. Linn, Missouri was a lot like Rosebud.”
In Rosebud, they were greeted with the words “Shoot Thieves” spray-painted on a large barrel. While their bus was stopped and empty, someone shot at a window and shattered the glass. Some townsfolk left out 40-ounce beer cans, chicken wings and watermelon.
In Linn, townsfolk held signs defending Officer Wilson and defaming Michael Brown Jr.
Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum, a white adjunct professor at the University of Colorado and former activist, said he flew from Denver to St. Louis to participate in the march.
“These guys embraced me,” McFadyen-Ketchum said of the NAACP marchers. “I don’t know how I’m going to go home after this and have my normal life without a community of people. We have bonded in a way that I’ve never bonded with anyone before.”
In Rosebud, McFadyen-Ketchum said they encountered “hardcore” racism. “I really didn’t realize that people were that racist,” he said.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol followed marchers along Route 50, every day except one. Pruitt said he was glad to have extra eyes monitoring the situation in case things got tense.
Despite encountering an overwhelming negative response from many on their journey to the State Capitol, Pruitt applauded those that came out to support their efforts.
Pruitt said, “The fact that we found them all along the route demonstrated to us that not only was this march needed, but that there’s support throughout the state – even in rural Missouri – for the issues we in the urban areas have been protesting.”
Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil.
