by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
It's been less than five years since eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by an over-zealous white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, an outrageous death that helped to give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. And while some communities come together and begin to heal after a tragedy like that, Ferguson has remained markedly divided. There appears to be an animus within the community that defies healing.
One way in which the healing has been derailed is through a continuing fear that some residents have that they are still at risk from the actions of white supremacists within the community. Those fears have been stoked by a string of questionable deaths since the killing of Michael Brown. Six individuals known to have ties to the Ferguson protests that followed Brown's death have themselves died during the intervening years, a number so large that it strains the notion of coincidence.
Michael Brown was gunned down by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. He had been gone just over three months when figures from the protest community began dying in ways that caused people to question the nature of their deaths.
Deandre Joshua was only 20-years-old when he was found dead in a torched car near the sight where Brown had been killed. It is unclear whether he had been involved with the Brown protests or not, and, if so, to what degree. Joshua had been shot in the head. Two years later Darren Seals, age 29, a more active protester, was also found dead in a torched car. Seals body was described by a St. Louis newspaper as "bullet-riddled."
Two years after that Bassem Masri, a 31-year-old Palestinian-American, was found dead on a bus. A toxicology report indicated that he had died of a heart attack after an overdose of fentanyl. Masri had been a prominent protester after Brown's death and had earned recognition for live-streaming much of the protest activity.
Three additional young men who had been involved in the protests surrounding the death of Michael Brown have also died in the ensuing years, and those deaths have been ruled as suicides, although at least one of those rulings is being challenged by family members of the deceased.
MarShawn McCarrel, age 23, a native of Columbus, Ohio, who came to Ferguson to be a part of the protests over the death of Michael Brown, allegedly shot and killed himself outside of the front door of the Ohio statehouse.
Edward Crawford, Jr, 27, who gained fame through a news photograph that showed him grabbing a teargas canister and throwing it back at police, also died of a gunshot after telling friends that he was distraught over personal issues.
And finally there was Danye Jones who died at the age of twenty-four this past October. Jones was found hanging by a bedsheet from a tree in his front yard. Friends believe that he was incapable of tying the complicated knots found in the sheet, and his mother believes that he was "lynched." The sheet reportedly did not belong to Danye Jones or his family.
All of these deaths are easily explainable on an individual basis and in less complicated times, but taken together and presented on the canvas of the racial tensions in and around Ferguson, they also give rise to a whole spectrum of sinister possibilities.
What is obvious is that the underlying racial tensions that rocked the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson five years ago have not been quelled. Seven defiant young men have now left the stage, but the play is still steeped in turmoil.
Killings by police, criminal violence, illicit drug usage, young people giving up on life, and unrelenting poverty - it's all so sad. It's all so unnecessary. It's all so wrong.
Peace would be a blessing, but the notion of a post-racial America seems even more remote now than it was five years ago. If our leaders will not take us to a better place, then we must march there on our own - and drag them along!
Citizen Journalist
It's been less than five years since eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by an over-zealous white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, an outrageous death that helped to give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. And while some communities come together and begin to heal after a tragedy like that, Ferguson has remained markedly divided. There appears to be an animus within the community that defies healing.
One way in which the healing has been derailed is through a continuing fear that some residents have that they are still at risk from the actions of white supremacists within the community. Those fears have been stoked by a string of questionable deaths since the killing of Michael Brown. Six individuals known to have ties to the Ferguson protests that followed Brown's death have themselves died during the intervening years, a number so large that it strains the notion of coincidence.
Michael Brown was gunned down by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. He had been gone just over three months when figures from the protest community began dying in ways that caused people to question the nature of their deaths.
Deandre Joshua was only 20-years-old when he was found dead in a torched car near the sight where Brown had been killed. It is unclear whether he had been involved with the Brown protests or not, and, if so, to what degree. Joshua had been shot in the head. Two years later Darren Seals, age 29, a more active protester, was also found dead in a torched car. Seals body was described by a St. Louis newspaper as "bullet-riddled."
Two years after that Bassem Masri, a 31-year-old Palestinian-American, was found dead on a bus. A toxicology report indicated that he had died of a heart attack after an overdose of fentanyl. Masri had been a prominent protester after Brown's death and had earned recognition for live-streaming much of the protest activity.
Three additional young men who had been involved in the protests surrounding the death of Michael Brown have also died in the ensuing years, and those deaths have been ruled as suicides, although at least one of those rulings is being challenged by family members of the deceased.
MarShawn McCarrel, age 23, a native of Columbus, Ohio, who came to Ferguson to be a part of the protests over the death of Michael Brown, allegedly shot and killed himself outside of the front door of the Ohio statehouse.
Edward Crawford, Jr, 27, who gained fame through a news photograph that showed him grabbing a teargas canister and throwing it back at police, also died of a gunshot after telling friends that he was distraught over personal issues.
And finally there was Danye Jones who died at the age of twenty-four this past October. Jones was found hanging by a bedsheet from a tree in his front yard. Friends believe that he was incapable of tying the complicated knots found in the sheet, and his mother believes that he was "lynched." The sheet reportedly did not belong to Danye Jones or his family.
All of these deaths are easily explainable on an individual basis and in less complicated times, but taken together and presented on the canvas of the racial tensions in and around Ferguson, they also give rise to a whole spectrum of sinister possibilities.
What is obvious is that the underlying racial tensions that rocked the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson five years ago have not been quelled. Seven defiant young men have now left the stage, but the play is still steeped in turmoil.
Killings by police, criminal violence, illicit drug usage, young people giving up on life, and unrelenting poverty - it's all so sad. It's all so unnecessary. It's all so wrong.
Peace would be a blessing, but the notion of a post-racial America seems even more remote now than it was five years ago. If our leaders will not take us to a better place, then we must march there on our own - and drag them along!
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