'Family' feeling at Ferguson PD last night, to near calamity - Protestor's perspective on shootings

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36. I think that most of his detractors would say the same as you

Last edited Sun Jun 21, 2015, 05:18 PM - Edit history (1)

...I'd strongly disagree and I'd recommend you take a broader and more personal view of events in Ferguson and consider, as I originally queried, why you don't feel compelled to commit yourself as thoroughly and selflessly as this man or the thousands of others who are presently involving themselves in protests and activism around the nation in protest and in support of this cause.


from the Bowdoin Orient:

McKesson began to document the protests via Twitter because he was frustrated that the media—distracted by the shocking optics of the police response—had forgotten the purpose of the demonstrations, which he referred to as “principled protesting.”

“I never thought in America that I would run and hop fences because I thought police were going to shoot me when I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.

Despite his fear, McKesson said he always remained committed to the cause.

“You continue to protest because you believe,” he said. “You believe that what’s right outweighs the fear for your own safety.”

The media’s attention has drifted away from Ferguson, but McKesson’s has not. He has returned several times and helps write a daily newsletter about the protest movement at hashtagferguson.org

McKesson said that his experiences in Ferguson have not made him more cynical, but that they have made him more vigilant.

“It was a reminder of the obligation to defend and protect democracy—the concept and reality of democracy—on all fronts,” he said. “There are more Fergusons in America.”

from Teach for America:

A native of Baltimore, DeRay McKesson is a graduate of Bowdoin College and began his career as a 6th grade math teacher in New York City as a member of the 2007 Teach For America corps. As a teenager, he worked as a community organizer, training youth and adults to work together to overcome community challenges with Baltimore’s Safe and Sound Campaign. He has also worked for the Harlem Children’s Zone, opened an academic enrichment center for middle grades in West Baltimore, served on grant-making boards, and has worked for TNTP. The majority of his career, however, has been working for school systems, leading Human Capital initiatives. He was previously the Special Assistant in the Office of Human Capital with Baltimore City Public Schools for 3 years and is currently the Senior Director of Human Capital with Minneapolis Public Schools. He works to ensure that structures and systems support all kids and that only the most talented and able adults work with and support our schools and students.

My Blackness Is Not A Weapon
by DeRay
August 21, 2014



“I got my hands on my head, please don’t shoot me dead.”

From the 5 days that I’ve been here marching and protesting thus far, this chant hits me the hardest.

I’ve been tear gassed 3 times, chased by an armored SWAT vehicle, and have had to hide under my steering wheel to avoid detection, in Ferguson, MO. And on the first night that officers patrolled the entire area on foot, when they stormed the crowd, I ran with my hands high, thinking that I could be taking my final steps. I’ll never forget running past the police, fighting back tears, with my hands as high as possible, afraid of my country...

As a kid, I remember the nights we slept on the floor because the gunshots were so close to the house and it was less likely that a bullet would go through a floorboard than a window or wall.

I became a teacher because I wanted to make sure that kids in communities like mine had the skills and opportunities to follow their dreams. I wanted to show my students that they, too, could master math skills and content and love it.

But I also want them to be alive. Kids deserve to walk down the street and feel free, feel like they have ownership of their bodies and the spaces in which they live. As the child of a recovered and recovering drug addicts, it is important to me that life circumstances don’t limit kids' understanding of what is possible in their life and their world...

Here, in Ferguson, this community is looking for allies. This community is looking for people who are willing to assist in changing structural inequity in the name of social justice. And, simply, allies who fundamentally believe that black lives matter.

Since the beginning of the protests, I have carried a sign that reads, “My blackness is not a weapon.” This community wants blackness to be understood as complex, worthy, powerful, imaginative and gifted -- just like all other races.

We are all in this community. We are Ferguson, too.

Each night that I go to protest, I am afraid. But I believe in justice. And I am my brother’s keeper.


read: https://www.teachforamerica.org/blog/my-blackness-not-weapon