“I thank everybody for coming out. My son was loved and he still is loved,” said Vonderrit Myers, Sr., in the early morning hours of Oct. 13, with his wife Syreeta by his side and surrounded by family members and a huge crowd that marched about 40 minutes to the university campus. The trek included a standoff with police armed in riot gear, holding and beating shields with batons. After some negotiations and insistence that protestors had the right to march on sidewalks and talks with legal observers, police pulled back and the group was allowed to proceed.
Thousands came to St. Louis and Ferguson, Mo. to participate in a demonstration against police violence, racism and oppression.
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“We are here to destroy systemic racism and White supremacy,” said one of the protest organizers as the crowd applauded and cheered. That isn’t anti-White, it is anti the 99 percent who exploit the masses of the people, he added.
“I refuse to have my children grow up in this world,” he said.
Hardship forging new leadership
The boldness of Black youth was on display throughout the weekend as was the political and organizational growth of young people who two months earlier were living normal lives.
Joshua Williams, 18, is one of the emerging young leaders and lives in Ferguson. According to the young activist, Michael Brown was a first cousin.
Keep in mind that Mike Brown died for an unjustified reason, he said. “That could have been your son laying in the street,” said Joshua. “Hands up means I surrender, don’t shoot me down in the streets.”
Calvin Green stood outside the Ferguson Police Station as hip hop music played and police lined up in riot gear. A thin yellow tape separated Mr. Green from the armed officers. He came in with a group of students from Kalamazoo, Mich., that included students from Western Michigan University and activists.
“God allowed me to be here for a reason,” he said. “God allows us to be here for a reason. In our path we are supposed to serve our people, confronting his evil,” he said.
“Our main weapon is love which is what I am showing to people in Ferguson,” Mr. Green added.
Expressions of love and support came from stages, through megaphones and through one on one conversations and group discussions.
A. Akbar Muhammad of the Nation of Islam speaks during major protest rally in St. Louis. Photos: Cartan X. Moseley
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The system tells Black children to be quiet but these are our children and they are crying out in pain, said Rev. Renita Lamkin. Instead of telling them to be quiet, we should be attending to their needs, she said.
Parents are too busy, schools punish them and police and adults want them to go away, she said. But, added the Caucasian pastor, it’s time to stand with them. “The whole damn system is no damn good,” said Rev. Lamkin, echoing a chant youth have shouted day and night.
Tory Russell of Hands Up United marveled at how far things had come in a little over 60 days. Speaking after the major Saturday rally that drew thousands to downtown St. Louis, he described himself Oct. 11 as a conscious person before Mike Brown’s death. But he and the young people are maturing in activism. They remain strong but more disciplined, more focused, and perhaps more committed.
Some 800 people turned out Oct. 10 for a Capital Justice Now March and Rally at the Buz Westfall Justice Center in Clayton, Mo. Rain did not deter demonstrators who want County Prosecutor Bob McCullouch to resign the case involving the death of Michael Brown. Black leaders, youth and politicians have called for a special prosecutor in the case. Photos: Cartan X. Moseley
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Mr. Russell, in his twenties, is an organizer and part of a movement that has international reach. People have to go home and work, organize against police violence and injustice where they live, he said. This young movement has veteran activists talking about poverty, racism, voracious capitalism and universal rights—but it started with young people making a single declaration: “Black lives matter!”Their work remains undone, justice has not come. There has been no indictment for the shooting of Mike Brown and the shooting of Vonderrit Myers, Jr. has been written off as justified by some.
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