The photo, and the reaction to it, crystallized Ferguson’s uprising this month in all its anger and strangeness: a demonstrator in an American flag shirt, holding a bag of chips in one hand while hurling a canister of tear gas back at police with the other, leaving an arabesque of smoke in his wake. The image became so well-known that a man who said he was the demonstrator put details for booking requests on his Twitter profile. He got thousands of new Twitter followers.
St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, left, has more than 100,000 new Twitter followers due to his documenting of events since the police shooting of Michael Brown. (Roberto Rodriguez / European Pressphoto)
So too with Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman and budding celebrity, who in the space of 10 days gained more than 100,000 Twitter followers due to his relentless documenting of events good and bad after the police shooting of Michael Brown. People are wondering what higher office French might seek. And they say as much about Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, once a low-profile officer, placed in charge of maintaining security in Ferguson.
It’s become apparent that anyone who has played a contributing role in this city’s unsteady vortex has been reshaped in it. Along with fostering celebrity, events here have taken on a ritualistic quality, with protesters gathering night after night along a small stretch of West Florissant Avenue. “During the day, it’s a spectacle. At night, it’s a war zone,” Wes Suber, a 26-year-old sociology student from Ferguson, said one night this week.
There’s no one guiding events — Ferguson has been like a barreling train without an engineer — and the difficulties in organization were apparent. On Tuesday, community leaders halted a protest march to hold a prayer and lead some chants; they told demonstrators to go home and rest up for a protest outside the county justice building in nearby Clayton the next morning. But the crowd refused to go home. Instead, people milled around until there was another standoff with police.
Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, the parents of slain teenager Michael Brown, attend a rally at Greater Grace Church in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 17, 2014. (SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES)
The parents of Michael Brown will be attending the rally for Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., this Saturday.
According to the Huffington Post, Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., and mother, Lesley McSpadden, will attend the rally, which is expected to draw more than 15,000 people.
Attendees will march from the location of Garner’s death to the Staten Island district attorney’s office. Supporters of the march hope that it will “symbolically link” the deaths of Brown and Garner and energize the advocacy against police brutality.
Brown’s parents were not sure of their attendance at first because they had not yet set a date for Brown’s funeral. Their legal representation, Benjamin Crump, announced Wednesday that Brown’s funeral will be held Monday.
A police officer who pointed his assault rifle at a demonstrator in Ferguson, Missouri, has been suspended indefinitely, authorities said Wednesday.
The unidentified officer from the St. Ann Police Department pointed his weapon after he became involved in an argument Tuesday night with the protester, according to Officer Brian Schellman, a spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department.
Schellman said a supervising officer intervened, ordered the officer to lower his weapon and took him away from the area.
“The unified command strongly feel these actions are inappropriate, and not indicative of the officers who have worked daily, to keep the peace,” according to a statement from the County Police department.
Calls to St. Ann police officials seeking comment were not immediately returned. article by James Queally via latimes.com
Protestors autograph a sketch of Michael Brown during a protest, Monday, Aug. 18, 2014, in Atlanta. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Atlanta to protest the shooting death of Brown, an unarmed man who was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. (AP Photo/David Goldman) | ASSOCIATED PRESS
One organization is working to not only honor the achievements and legacy of the late Michael Brown, but to also help his younger siblings achieve what he didn’t have the chance to.
Brown, the unarmed black teen who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, earlier this month, was a recent high school graduate. He was scheduled to start classes at Vatterott College on Aug. 11, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but was killed two days prior. The Wisconsin Hope Lab — a program that researches ways to minimize barriers for students of all backgrounds to attain a post-secondary education — is working in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County to create the “Mike Brown College Scholarship,” which will help Brown’s three siblings attend college.
“Mike’s mom deserves to see her other children cross the finish line and receive their diplomas — I want to support her doing that,” Sara Goldrick-Rab, Wisconsin Hope Lab director, told WISC-TV.
Though one university president, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has offered a debt-free education at his institution for Brown’s siblings, the scholarship fund, which has been raising money through a crowd funded campaign, will offer support for Brown’s two sisters and brother, regardless of where they choose to pursue their higher education.
While the fund will provide the late teen’s family with financial support, the founders of the scholarship say they also aim to honor and remember Brown, a young man who family and friends say was excited to start his new life as a college student. “He looked forward to it so much. You didn’t have to tell him, ‘Make sure you get to school.’ He was ready,” Lesley McSpadden, Brown’s mom, told CNN.
The fund was created five days ago, and, as of Wednesday afternoon, donors have raised almost half of the fund’s goal of $50,000.
To donate to the scholarship fund or to learn more about it, visit the GoFundMe page here. article by Kimberly Yam via huffingtonpost.com
Carissa McGraw and other protesters raised their hands and turned their backs to law enforcement officials after a vigil for Michael Brown (Whitney Curtis/New York Times)
As everyone knows, the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the unrest, protests and investigations that continue to unfold in the wake of this tragedy are mightily affecting (and hopefully redefining) the national conversation on racism, abuses of power and overbearing, militarized police action against citizens.
As the editor of a website dedicated solely to providing and promoting Good Black News, it has been admittedly hard in the past week to bring myself to post what were starting to seem like frivolous accomplishments and events in the wake of a soul-stirring grass roots movement against tyranny and injustice. This unrest in particular feels like it has the makings of a sea change from the status quo into a new era of human rights, where systemic and commonplace brutality is voted down and rooted out of any and all policing bodies that are meant to Protect and Serve, not Terrify and Dehumanize. Michael Brown Sr., second from left, the Rev. Al Sharpton, center, and Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, at a news conference at the Old Courthouse in St. Louis. (Whitney Curtis / New York Times)
But, even though the eventual outcome could lead to something positive, how can any of what is happening day-to-day (tear gassing, unprovoked arrests, pockets of protester violence, autopsy results) qualify as Good Black News? But not posting anything about Ferguson did not feel right, either. Thus, aside from a few tweets, GBN has been silent for days.
Upon serious thought and reflection, I’ve come to believe that publishing Good Black News is more important and necessary than ever. The achievements of people of color are still woefully under-publicized and reported, and the only way to change minds or inspire pride in those who internalize the “less than” narrative, is to keep putting as much GBN out there as possible.
Thus, going forward, in addition to our regular mix of GBN, we will also post items, tweets, stories and pictures that cover the Ferguson story — the GBN philosophy will still be in place and nothing will be incendiary or negative — in fact, non-violent protest, speaking out, photos, tweets and the like that continue to highlight the injustices still prevalent in this country ARE, in my opinion, Good Black News. Granted, nothing will bring back Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Oscar Grant or countless others who have suffered the same unjust fate, but positive, insistent protests and actions do have the power to prevent the next young man or woman of color from being victimized, and that we uncategorically and unreservedly support.
Onward and upward — Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Founder and Editor-In-Chief
