Protesters response to Monday’s expected grand jury announcement will define this community’s identity and place in civil rights history.
“On or about November 10, 2014 the Grand Jury decision will be announced. Darren Wilson will NOT be indicted on ANY charges related to the murder of Mike Brown. All local police Chiefs and jail commanders have been notified to begin preparing for major civil unrest. Governor Nixon has been notified of the impending announcement and has ordered the Missouri National Guard to begin preparations for a possible re-reinstatement of the "martial law" curfew that was declared at the beginning of the Ferguson protests".
There it is. Darren Wilson is going to walk. He got away with murder. We will probably never see him again. Get angry. Scream, yell. Use pictures of Darren Wilson for target practice. For the next two days, do whatever it takes to get the rage over this out of your system. Then Sunday night sit down, take a deep breath and realize that Monday’s expected announcement is anticlimactic because deep in your gut you knew that this was going to be the outcome of the Michael Brown case. And over the last couple of weeks the controlled leaks have only served to confirm that gut feeling. So Monday, when this galling announcement is made, you know you can sit calmly and know you have already dealt with your rage. You can also have confidence that even though they won this battle, you can still win the war.
Over the last three months, I have watched as angry residents of Ferguson trying to cope with seeing one of their own gunned down in cold blood and then left in the street for four hours, turn into activists. These activists have names, faces and voices: Netaaaaaaaa, MsPackyetti, Deray, Re_Invent_ED, WyzeChef, vcmitchelljr, and MusicOverPeople to name just a few. Because of independent journalists like Rebelutionary Z and Bassem Masri, these activists have a national voice. The country has been able to see that Missouri is one of the most racist places the country. When you have a community that is 70% black that is governed by a government with virtually no black representation, there is a serious problem. I am in Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy and I have never seen such a thing. The government needs to be as diverse as the community. This is the war that must be won in North County St. Louis. The leaders necessary to bring this diversity to the government are being developed through the organization of the protests. The protest organizers and leaders can run for government office and win as long as the people who they have been leading in protest vote for them. Despite this bitter defeat with the grand jury, this war is winnable.
The question is this: Which Ferguson will show up on Monday? The disciplined, peaceful one that is developing potential North County government leaders. Or the lawless violent one bent on revenge for the injustice of the grand jury decision. A response like this will only further perpetuate the stereotype that justifies that military response the police are planning. Ferguson: you have a clear choice. Get revenge for losing the battle or win the war. No matter what you choose the country will be watching. So choose carefully.
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