Illustration by Alex Williamson
On a Saturday in August, not long after the death of Michael Brown, I joined several local and state economic-development leaders to call on businesses in Ferguson to hear their stories and see whether we could help. We listened. First and foremost, across the board, they said they were saddened. People felt this. At its heart, this is a tragedy for the Brown family. We lost the life of a young man who had just graduated from high school and enrolled in college.
Second, they just really wanted everyone to know, “Hey, we’re open for business.” Their weekly receipts dried up—even with peaceful assembly, protesters and marches can cut people off from these mom-and-pop, family-owned small businesses. Others had direct vandalism, looting, theft. They all had real stress and fear.
Their resiliency and courage were inspiring. Despite a worldwide news event unfolding in the streets all around them, these businesses were open, and they knew they had to deliver. It inspired us to do whatever we could to have their back. We formed a coalition called Recovery St. Louis and with the leadership of State Treasurer Clint Zweifel, who grew up in North County, as well as other state and local leaders, we set up the Small Business Relief Program, to offer micro loans totaling $1 million. The idea was to get zero-interest money out to businesses as quickly as possible to meet their needs. In addition to our team from the Regional Chamber, important contributions came from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, a coalition of local banks, North County Incorporated, and many others.
We asked the Missouri Broadcasters Association to produce ads to let everyone know that Ferguson was open for business. We did that with social media as well. We asked the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Behavioral Health Response to offer referrals for counseling. Where we could, we helped in other ways. I share this to show what we can do when we work together.
Now, can we learn together? We must seek to understand how this community tragedy became a world event. We must have truthful conversations about systemic racism, persistent poverty, educational and income gaps, the chasm between those who can make a living in the economy and those who can’t, and the deepening despair of the have-nots who believe they never will. No topic is too hot to handle: police militarization, school-transfer laws, county and municipal governance, and civil rights.
We tend to think “civil rights” belong to the “civil-rights era.” But the question of civil rights belongs to every time period. Today, we are explaining to a national audience decisions made 50 to 70 years ago that led to the tragedy today. It’s easy to criticize those decisions. But rather than focusing on the past, let’s think about this: What will people say when they look at our decisions 50 years from now? It’s our time. What will we do?
The most pressing civil-rights question in our time is about policing. Does policing mean the same thing in all of our neighborhoods? We talk about accredited schools. Maybe we should be talking about accredited police departments.
I recently asked civil-rights activist Frankie Freeman, “What wisdom do you have for me right now?” She said, “We need to work together to build our community.” That sounds simple, but most of us can agree that working together has eluded us historically. Learning about our shared reality is the first and most essential step we must take—together.
Reagan is president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber.
