Antonio French: The Alderman Sounds Off
Robert McCulloch: Post-Ferguson
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
“I feel like, in a way, it gave St. Louis a cause. It gave us a voice, and we’re not backing down from something that means something to us. I love that. I love that we’re able to just be a part of something.”
NICHOLAS NOELKE
He moved to St. Charles from Hermann last June, then to Shrewsbury in November.
“I was so new to the city, I didn’t feel entitled to speak out when I heard people discussing the rioting in ways that I didn’t agree with. I remember being in a nail salon, and they were showing footage of the riots on the news. Two women were speaking about the rioters in racist terms. I remember feeling very uncomfortable but not feeling like I could speak out.”
REBECCA O’LAUGHLIN
She moved here from New York City on August 3, 2014, days before Brown’s death.
“My first thought was, ‘Well, this isn’t any different from any other place that I’ve been to or visited, as far as racism or any type of negative stereotypes toward African-American males.’ Coming from Mississippi, there was the thought that in St. Louis there wouldn’t be as many negative stereotypes toward African-Americans.”
CHRIS PRESLEY
A Mississippi native, Presley moved here in March 2014. He now lives in South City.
“I’m from California, and I don’t really know anyone in California who has spent much time in the Midwest. I never have, so I didn’t even know how diverse of a city St. Louis was. You come here and realize there are plenty of diverse neighborhoods, and you see how the atmosphere can change from block to block.”
ASHLEY KEARNEY
She moved to St. Louis from San Diego during the first week of September 2014.
“Back in Brazil, violence from the police is normal, as is inequality and racial issues. I don’t like it at all, but my opinion of St. Louis was improved—not because of the incident with Michael Brown but because of the protests of the people after that.”
MATEUS ARAUJO
He moved to St. Louis from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in early September 2014 and lives in University City.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
RON JOHNSON
Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson was called upon to lead law enforcement efforts during the turbulent days following the death of Brown. He was named to Ebony’s “Power 100” list of the most inspiring African-Americans last year. Before serving as grand marshal of the 2015 Annie Malone Parade in mid-May, the North County native said, “I will get a chance to see those friends I made during the protest in Ferguson.”
DORIAN JOHNSON
A key eyewitness in the shooting of Michael Brown, Johnson found his testimony to the grand jury refuted. Earlier this year, Johnson filed a civil lawsuit against Wilson, former Chief of Police Tom Jackson, and the city of Ferguson for allegedly violating his constitutional rights and inflicting emotional pain. He was arrested this May for allegedly obstructing an arrest and for throwing suspected narcotics onto the ground.
TOM JACKSON
After initially refusing to leave his post as Ferguson’s chief of police, Tom Jackson resigned in the wake of the DOJ report. Since then, he’s not joined another police force. His contract would have expired at the end of March. After resigning earlier this year, Jackson is receiving his annual salary and paid health insurance for another year.
MIKE BROWN'S PARENTS
Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden spent the initial days after their son’s death grieving and pleading for an end to the looting and violence. Then, last November, just before the grand jury decision, they testified before the United Nations Committee Against Torture. “We need the world to know what’s going on in Ferguson, and we need justice,” McSpadden said. Today, they continue to appeal for racial understanding.
DARREN WILSON
The first time that most of the world saw Wilson speak was the evening of November 25, during an interview with George Stephanopoulos. Since that time, Wilson has remained out of the spotlight. In March, he attended a trivia contest for the Hunt for Justice organization, where he received a standing ovation. Wilson’s attorney, Neil Bruntrager, says, “He was just there as an attendee, a trivia player.”
Ferguson Timeline: How events unfolded over the year
FACES OF FERGUSON
The 19-year-old was classmates and friends with Michael Brown at Normandy High School. Smith, who was an outspoken critic of his education while at Normandy, is now a freshman at the University or Missouri-St. Louis, where he's studying theater and psychology.
The 26-year-old emerged last August as one of the most prominent protester voices in Ferguson. Her Twitter account, @Nettaaaaaaaa, gained thousands of followers as she posted videos and descriptions from the front lines of protests. Elzie now lives in Chicago, where she works for Amnesty International as a field organizer.
The 39-year-old mayor is one of Ferguson's few government leaders to remain in office after the events of last August.
In November, protesters smashed the windows of the Jenkin's family's restaurant, Cathy's Kitchen, after the grand jury announcement. Four months later, the couple opened a barbecue restaurant down the street.
The 59-year-old became the acting police chief of the Ferguson Police Department in March, after former Chief Tom Jackson resigned. Eickhoff joined the department less than a week before Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown.
The 25-year-old’s family owns Ferguson Market & Liquor, the shop where Brown shoplifted cigarillos just before being shot by Wilson. The market was looted in August, after the Ferguson Police Department released a video of Brown’s strong-arm theft, and again in November.
Why two St. Louisans became police—and why they continue to serve.
At press time, St. Louis area police had shot and killed a dozen people since last August.
How artists responded to Ferguson
Ferguson's newest elected officials discuss what change means to them.
An abbreviated guide to the Ferguson commission
A focus on the community members of Ferguson.
A Memorial For Mikey
A plaque now marks the site where unarmed teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by then police officer Darren Wilson. A photo of the 18-year-old in his high school graduation cap and gown peers from the plaque. But for months, a memorial for Brown was anything but permanent.
Just a day after his death last August, the first makeshift memorial—designed to cover his blood on the street—sprang up. Soon, though, there were reports that police officers had driven over it and a police dog was allowed to urinate on it. Then, a day after Christmas, witnesses reported an automobile running through the growing mass of flowers, signs, and stuffed animals. Volunteers hurriedly reconstructed the memorial. Later, a tree planted in a Ferguson park as a memorial was vandalized, and a nearby marker was stolen.
Finally, on May 20, volunteers came together to remove the makeshift memorial so it could be replaced with a more lasting one. On that spring day, Michael Brown Sr. said, “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how I can help other young men to go forward in life.”
Today, the plaque that commemorates his son’s life reads, “I would like the memory of Michael Brown to be a happy one. He left an afterglow of smiles when life was done.” It's still standing. (Photo by Kevin A. Roberts)
The Next Chapter
It was September 8, 1998, and like most St. Louisans, 11-year-old Amy Randazzo had her eyes glued to the TV. Mark McGwire had just hit his record-breaking 62nd home run for the Cardinals, and Randazzo crowded into the small meeting room of the Ferguson Municipal Public Library to watch the ball soar into the left-field stands.
Sixteen years later, Randazzo would return to her hometown library after watching a different kind of history unfold on television: protesters marching, police throwing tear gas, rioters burning down a gas station. The unrest that closed schools and businesses also shone a national spotlight on the small library that stayed open to shelter, feed, and support neighborhood families. Donations poured in, doubling the library’s budget and funding an otherwise-unlikely opportunity for Randazzo: a full-time job at the library she’d grown up in.
“I’ve been amazed at the generosity of complete strangers,” says Randazzo, who started as the children’s services and programming librarian in March.
The library’s work earned it the 2015 Gale/Library Journal Library of the Year award.
“The people coming through our doors are basically my neighbors,” Randazzo says. “The services we provide enrich our community, just like every library in every community. But being a resident of Ferguson makes me doubly aware.”
