“Mic check,” a protester named Joshua said in the foyer as demonstrators prepared to leave Chaifetz Arena Sunday night following an interesting turn of events that culminated with young protesters defiantly making their way to the stage to speak on their own behalf at an interfaith service.
“We are going to meet up at 4200 Shaw,” Joshua said.
No further instructions were given.
The diverse group of mostly young people had come to St. Louis for the “Week of Resistance” also known as “Ferguson October” – four days of events coordinated with several organizations weeks before to demonstrate and protest the killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown Jr. by Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th.
By the time protesters had arrived in the St. Louis area, another black youth would be dead at the hands of police – which is what brought them to Shaw.
As protesters arrived on the scene around 10:30 p.m., the most minimal details were given.
The family of Vonderrit Meyers Jr., the 18-year-old killed by police on Wednesday in the South City neighborhood where the demonstrators gathered, came out and addressed the crowd.
“When Michael Brown was killed, I was scared it would happen to my son,” Myers mother said. “Two months later, it did happen.”
Once the masses arrived, believed to be upwards of 2000, the bail assistance number was etched in marker on the forearms of hundreds as they followed the lead of organizers.
“I don’t know what’s happening – all I know is to call this number if I get arrested,” said Vincent Flewellen before lifting up his sleeve to showcase the number.”
They began to march and chant.
After about half of them made their way down Shaw, a young man yelled for the second wave of the group to fall back.
The first wave continued through the neighborhood towards Tower Grove, on towards Vandeventer.
“My heart says ‘yes’ to revolution, but my body says ‘no’ to exercise,” one woman who had grown weary from the long walk as they headed out of south city.
The walk was far from over.
Police were prepared for a repeat of the QuikTrip sit in – standing in full riot gear at the site where teargas was released and more than a dozen arrests took place the evening before.
The first wave of protesters calmly walked past the service station while chanting “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot.”
First stop, Mangrove.
Clubs were still open as the group of several hundred came chanting through the popular nightlife area.
Business owners and patrons stepped out to see what was going on – and why their neighborhood.
“Are you aware of the action,” a woman said came towards the end of the crowd to provide an update.
“Well, they think this is a game and it’s all about fun, so we decided to occupy an area known for fun and play some games.”
Once the crowd reached Manchester and Tower Grove, they pulled out chalk, jump rope, board games and balls (soccer and beach balls) and commenced to play in the middle of the street while blocking oncoming traffic.
About 15 minutes in, police flanked both sides of Manchester as well as several side streets, but never advanced on protesters – who continued their “protest play” for another 30 minutes or so.
“If we were in Ferguson, we would have already been arrested by now,” one protester said to another. “Girl, look who out here – it’s not just us,” the other protester responded pointing to her brown hand.
A large number of white protesters were in the mix Sunday night.
“Plus it’s all these out of town people. St. Louis PD is doing everything they can to stay out of the news with all this ‘company’ out here.”
After play time was over, the second round of marching would begin.
Still unclear of what the second phase of protest would bring, demonstrators followed on a long walk around the Mangrove and along the outskirts of midtown.
When they reached the Grand/Forest Park overpass, the second group of protesters could be heard coming from the other side.
“They think it’s a game. They think it’s a joke.”
They made their way up Grand and into the campus of Saint Louis University.
Marching on the sidewalk, more police stood on the sides clearly ready for a worst case scenario situation.
“SLU students pull out your IDs,” a march leader said as everyone walked.
Plenty applauded and pointed as they recognized Dr. Cornel West, who had promised during his keynote address that he “came to go to jail with the young people” and promised to follow the lead in “their movement.”
A resounding ovation took place as everyone arrived at a campus center area with concrete columns -and a bronze statue that had a “Black Lives Matter” strategically placed in his lap.
It was just before 2 a.m.
“This is our first act of civil disobedience, we are staging a sit-in on SLU’s campus,” an organizer said before once again allowing the family of Vonderrit Meyers to speak to the crowd that had just marched three miles on the fallen teen’s behalf.
“As an employee of SLU, I can pull out my badge too,” said Vonderrit Myers Sr. “It gives my heart peace that you all are doing this for my family and in my son’s name. It lets everybody know that his life meant something.”
Later in the morning, SLU president Fred P. Pestello issued an inside statement for those affiliated with the University in the form of a letter regarding the protest – that is still underway – on the University’s campus.
The full letter reads as follows:
Dear students, faculty, staff and parents,
These are unprecedented times for the St. Louis community, and Sunday and this morning, they arrived on our doorstep, as a protest was staged on our campus. We as a SLU community have responded peacefully and have kept the protests from escalating in any way. Please know that at all times, the safety of our students has been our top priority – and continues to be.
As many of you know by now, hundreds of protestors marched to our campus early this morning protesting police brutality and other social injustices, and held a rally and sit-in around the clock tower. The march started in the Shaw neighborhood and proceeded up Grand Avenue to the Frost Campus. The University had no prior knowledge that this action would take place.
Once on campus, the protestors were peaceful and did not cause any injuries or damage. In consultation with St. Louis Police and our Department of Public Safety, it was our decision to not escalate the situation with any confrontation, especially since the protest was non-violent. While the protestors were sometimes loud, they were respectful of the students they met. At the same time, we ensured that all of our residence halls were secure and that DPS was carefully monitoring the scene. As of 6 a.m., approximately 25 protestors remain on campus in tents just north of the clock tower. We remain steadfastly committed to ensuring the safety of all of our students and campus to the very best of our ability. To that end, our response has been non-confrontational and consistent with our mission.
While I know that having middle-of-the-night protests is unexpected and can be disturbing, I applaud the actions of everyone on campus – especially our students – for handling this situation with great grace and compassion.
After consultation with Provost Dr. Ellen Harshman, we have agreed that classes will go on as scheduled today, but we will leave it to individual faculty members to make any adjustments to their class schedules for today.
Earlier last night, more than 1,800 people came to our arena to hear clergy and young activists speak about the difficult issues that have led to these protests. At that event as well, the attendees were peaceful.
There is certainly the possibility that protests – some near our campus – may continue. We expect these also to be peaceful, but we will handle any of them with the care of our students foremost in our actions. Let us all pray for better days ahead.
Sincerely,
Fred P. Pestello
President
