August 9, 2014. It is a day the St. Louis region — and the world — will never forget. It was on that day that unarmed teen Michael Brown was fatally shot by a then‑Ferguson police officer. His death sparked more than a year of relentless protest and launched a global discourse on the relationship between law enforcement and the Black community.
“Through this work, Mike’s legacy lives on,” McSpadden‑Head said. “Not just in memory, but in motion.”
For the past twelve years, commemorative programming has taken place. When it comes around again on Sunday, one of the people most impacted by the tragedy won’t be involved.
“I don’t even like talking about it — August 9 — period,” Lezley McSpadden‑Head said last year on the critically acclaimed Still My Baby podcast. For season four of The Untold Story, Lemonada Media teamed up with Campaign Zero to tell an often forgotten side of a story that played out before the world’s eyes — the mother who lost her son.
She celebrates him on the day he came into the world, May 20, instead of the sweltering August day when his life was taken.
For the past three years, McSpadden‑Head has held a scholarship banquet where students from throughout the region are recognized in her son’s name. Nine days after what would have been Michael Brown’s 30th birthday, she spent the evening honoring his legacy by presenting 30 students with scholarships that bear his name.
“Michael’s life was cut short, but his story doesn’t end there. It lives on in every student we support,” McSpadden‑Head said. “Every scholarship is a way of giving back and investing in a future my son never got to see. That gives me hope, and we’re grateful to everyone who invests in it alongside us.”
Since 2024, the Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation — in partnership with Campaign Zero — has provided more than $200,000 in scholarships and nearly $20,000 in care packages to 63 St. Louis‑area students. The last three award cycles included 15 students in 2024, 18 in 2025, and 30 for the 2026–27 school year. This year’s class was expanded to 30 in honor of what would have been Michael Brown’s 30th birthday.
“This year holds special meaning. Mike would have celebrated his 30th birthday in 2026,” McSpadden‑Head said. “In his honor, we expanded the class to 30 scholarship awardees — the largest in the program’s history — and set out to support 30 young people whose talent, vision, and drive reflect the future the Foundation is working to build.”
For the 2025–26 school year, in partnership with Campaign Zero, the Foundation named thirty awardees from more than a dozen schools, including her son’s alma mater, Normandy High School. Each student received $3,000 toward their education as they pursue passions in social justice, the performing arts, and the trades.
“They come from schools across St. Louis City and County, each bringing distinct talents and ambitions for the future,” McSpadden‑Head said. “Their determination, creativity, and commitment keep Mike’s legacy in motion.”
The Foundation will launch its 2027–28 scholarship cycle at the beginning of the school year this fall. It will mark the program’s fourth year, and the goal is to expand the scholarship class again. Dorm‑ready care packages will also be sent to scholarship recipients during August and September, extending support beyond the ceremony and into the students’ first weeks on campus.
The Foundation works at the intersection of justice, health, education, and family. Its flagship Michael O.D. Brown Memorial Scholarship supports students who demonstrate academic achievement, financial need, and a commitment to social justice, the performing arts, or the skilled trades.
Campaign Zero has partnered with the Foundation on scholarship selection, the annual dinner, care packages, storytelling, and fundraising support.
“Campaign Zero exists because of what happened in Ferguson. We were built on the demand that came out of those streets: show us the data, then change the policy because young people deserve to survive and to thrive,” said DeRay McKesson, Executive Director of Campaign Zero. “These scholarship recipients, carrying Michael’s name toward college, a certification, or a trade, are proof that what started as a protest is still building something. That’s what we’re proud to be part of.”
McSpadden‑Head said the work is rooted in the same love she had for her son long before the world knew his name.
“There were a lot of people around when I had Mike Mike just the same as when he left,” she said. “I always felt that God gave me that baby for a reason.”
While he was taken from her, she has made a difference in his name by founding the Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation.
“Through this work, Mike’s legacy lives on,” McSpadden‑Head said. “Not just in memory, but in motion.”
Campaign Zero — a data‑driven organization focused on ending police violence and mass incarceration — was birthed out of the movement that her son’s death sparked.
“The work that Lezley and her foundation are doing is a powerful reminder that real change starts with community,” McKesson said. “We are proud to stand alongside this work because ending police violence isn’t just a policy fight, it’s a fight for lives, futures, and truth.”
McSpadden‑Head said her mission is rooted in the future her son deserved.
“I didn’t birth him to bury him. I birthed him to live, to grow, to become,” she said. “That was stolen from him, from me and the world. But I will never stop fighting for justice — to make his legacy live on.”
She said her son’s legacy is not just remembrance — it’s action.
“We carry Michael’s name. We carry his story,” McSpadden‑Head said. “Together, we carry his legacy forward.”
For more information on the Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation and its annual scholarship, visit www.michaelodbrown.org.