Aug. 9 will mark 10 years since Michael Brown Jr. was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer. The killing, which became known as the Ferguson Uprising,” sparked unrest, activism and demands for reform both locally and nationally.
NPR Morning Edition host Michel Martin will return to Ferguson on August 7, 2024 to lead a conversation with panelists and community members “where we hope to look back and forward; to talk about what happened and why, and what has — and hasn’t — changed in the last 10 years,” according to Martin.
“#Ferguson and Beyond: A Community Conversation 10 Years Later” will be hosted by St. Louis Public Radio in collaboration with NPR to offer the public an opportunity for reflection and thoughtful discussion.
This conversation comes nine years after a four-hour long discussion with Martin, STLPR, and more than 200 people at Wellspring Church in Ferguson.
“I was honored to have taken part in the community’s conversations 10 years ago and I often think about the people I met and what they had to say to me and to each other,” Martin said.
“I know those conversations have never stopped, so I was equally honored to have been invited to come back to help keep the conversations going.”
STLPR Interim News Director Brian Heffernan called the community discussions that Martin led “a breakthrough for many in the St. Louis region who sought to make sense of deep community pain, turmoil, and misunderstanding.”
“This event is part of St. Louis Public Radio’s ongoing commitment to fostering meaningful discussions that get to the heart of our region’s core challenges and solutions,” he said.
“Michel is uniquely qualified to moderate this conversation 10 years later, and I’m thrilled to have her back.”
“#Ferguson and Beyond: A Community Conversation 10 Years Later” will be held at Greater St. Mark Family Church, 9950 Glen Owen Dr, St. Louis, 63136 on Wednesday, Aug 7, 2024.
Doors will open to the public at 6:30 p.m. and the discussion begins at 7 p.m.
Admission is free; no registration required.
Highlights of “#Ferguson and Beyond” will air on St. Louis on the Air at noon and 7 p.m. Friday, August 9 on 90.7 KWMU.
In recognition of the 10-year anniversary of events in Ferguson, portions of the discussion will also be made available to NPR Member stations across the country to broadcast.
Martin will also broadcast Morning Edition live from St. Louis on Tuesday, August 6, prior to the upcoming community event. NPR’s morning drivetime news magazine Morning Edition ranks #1 among national news/talk-radio programs and is carried by 843 public radio stations nationwide.
Forward Through Ferguson discussion in Kirkwood
The Kirkwood Human Rights Commission is sponsoring a panel discussion on the impact of the “Forward through Ferguson” report with panelists providing insight as to why its recommendations have or have not been adopted.
The event is at 7 p.m. Wednesday Sept 18, 2024, at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center. The panel will include former Ferguson Commission members Rasheen Aldridge, Kevin Ahlbrand, Daniel Isom and Commission Co-Chair Rich McClure.
Gov. Jay Nixon’s appointed the Commission with a mission was to conduct “a thorough, wide ranging and unflinching study of the social and economic conditions that impede progress, equality and safety in the St. Louis region.”
The event will be moderated by Alvin A. Reid of the St. Louis American.
We need to focus on the opportunists who got jobs, careers and titles and didn’t do anything for the community. Our children are intelligent, brilliant, creative, ingenious, gifted and talented and we all know that what we are seeing withing our communities is a direct reflection of the incompetent, racist, and ignorant teachers within our schools.