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FACETIME
In the aftermath of the shooting of teen-
ager Michael Brown by a police officer
in Ferguson, Missouri, National Public
Radio’s Michel Martin ’76 was invited
by St. Louis Public Radio to moderate a
community conversation (“Ferguson and
Beyond”) in the shaken city. The two-hour
public event drew more than 200 people
to Ferguson’s Wellspring Church.
My role was to be a moderator, and it
was not a small thing.
St. Louis Public
Radio asked me to facilitate a community
conversation, and they made some critical
decisions. The first was to have the con-
versation at a church in the community
as opposed to at the radio station. The
critical decision [NPR] helped
them
make
was to be sure responsible people in gov-
ernment were part of the conversation.
It was not just young African-American
people who spoke up, but some of the
white constituents
– parents spoke up
and said we don’t like the way the whole
situation has transpired; we are equally
concerned. They said they don’t like that
this community is not safe for everyone.
The young [African-American] students
were not expecting to hear that. They
didn’t realize they had allies. That made
for some powerful moments.
I am not sure the mayor of Ferguson
understood that this was not just about
Michael Brown being shot and unarmed
,
but his body lay in the street for hours, in
full view of many, including his mother. I
don’t know that he understood the full im-
pact of that. I asked him if he was inclined
to apologize to Michael Brown’s parents,
and he said they had not approached him,
but he would consider it if they did. It was
an interesting experience in that people
had a chance to hear from neighbors in
a way they had not previously, and it was
the same for officials and constituents.
I thought it would be emotional, and it
was.
We came early to do reporting and we
saw the heavy police presence in Ferguson,
saw cars pulling people over aggressively.
There was one gentleman who said he had
$300 in jaywalking fines in a community
where there are no sidewalks. A lot of
black people felt they had been targets of
very aggressive policing.
People were upset and they exercised
their right to protest.
But there were
also people in the community who did
not appreciate the days of disorder, the
impact on local businesses, outsiders in-
stigating behavior that was not acceptable.
My role in this was to help us have a
good conversation, though we may
not agree on what that means.
I felt
that if people left feeling some truth had
been spoken, that everybody had been
heard, then it would feel worthwhile. I
feel we accomplished that and let people
express themselves in a way that was un-
comfortable – but necessary – for some
people to experience. The room was full
and everybody stayed.
One of the points a lot of people made
was that it wasn’t just about Ferguson.
I’m not sure people understand that there
are a lot of small towns where the bound-
aries are not always clear. We heard from
people who feel there is a really hostile and
antagonistic attitude between authorities
and people in the community. The lack of
diversity in the Ferguson Police Depart-
ment was visible, and there are no legis-
lators of color. The recently retired city
councilor said turnout in local elections
is low and asked people why they are not
participating. Where is their accounta-
bility in terms of participation in select-
ing the people who will govern their city?
The conversation was called Ferguson
and Beyond and that had dual mean-
ing.
The question is: What are people in
this particular community going to do to get
beyond this, now that the questions are on
the table? If people are not satisfied with
the answers from elected officials, what
are they going to do to hold themselves
and their community leaders accountable?
The conversation was broadcast in 26
cities, and the questions were relevant
to other parts of the country, too.
There
is a disconnect in how the people are served
by their leaders and what role they should
take in the governance of their own com-
munity. People need to participate in gov-
ernment so they have a standing to lodge
complaints.
One thing we have learned from this
event is that structures matter.
The
way people do their jobs matters. The
police chief in Ferguson apologized to
the family for the way Michael Brown’s
remains were handled. He had clearly
absorbed some of the hurt that had been
expressed and understood and heard it.
If you look at the issues in which
black and white people have very
strong differences of opinion, a lot
of it centers on law enforcement
.
Black people feel abused and that they
are treated with a lack of respect from
people who are there to protect them.
Relationships matter. How many white,
middle class people did not understand
how the black young people were routine-
ly treated in Ferguson? It was important
to understand there were other people
in the community who cared about
that. People
do
care about this, whether
or not they are directly affected by it.
How law enforcement conducts itself
does
matter.
I don’t yet have plans to return to
Ferguson, but I do have a desire to
go back.
A number of people from the
community have reached out to me and
asked me to come back. I am looking for
an opportunity to figure out what makes
sense.
Michel Martin ’76
AUGUST JENNEWEIN / ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO
