September 8th, 2014 Connecticut College held a teach-in about why the shooting of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, matters. This event was lead by Professor David Kim of the Religious Studies Department. He hosted this forum expecting maybe 100 people to show up and have a lecture style talk about the issues at hand. To his, and everyone in the room’s surprise, nearly 400 people attended. Instead of doing a lecture, he made the teach-in an informal discussion to engage students, faculty, and staff. So, he started the conversation with a question: “What is a Teach-in?” A few people responded with similar answers, describing a talk about current news or important issues. All correct, however, Kim also referred to it as a protest: a protest about current issues that needed to be discussed and not overlooked.
Ferguson, Missouri, August 9th Michael Brown, age 18, was shot and killed by a police officer in the middle of the day. His body was left in the street for four hours until a witness finally called for help. Following Brown’s death, the citizens of Ferguson peacefully protested police brutality toward the black community. They marched, made signs, and mourned on the street where Brown was shot. What those people were doing was completely legal, but the Ferguson police department paid no mind to that. They dispersed the protestors with tear gas, dogs, and rubber bullets. Videos online show them cursing and using brutal force against these unarmed people, many of whom were teenagers and children. These protests went on for days. During that time, the police department didn’t release any information about Brown’s shooting. Media outlets however, picked up a clue as to why Brown may have been shot.
Video footage was released showing Brown and his friend robbing a pack of cigars from a convenience store. Some news outlets blamed Brown for his own death, using the video tape of the convenience store altercation as a justification for police involvement. It was later revealed that the police officer responsible for Brown’s death had no knowledge of the convenience store encounter at the time he shot Brown. Michael Brown, who was unarmed, seemed to have been shot for no reason.
Many students spoke strongly against the disrespectful image mass media cast on Brown after his death. Journalists, protestors, and bystanders alike have been video taping the events in Ferguson since the start. Police have detained journalists for filming them, confiscated cell phones, and threatened to shoot if journalists and protestors didn’t shut off the cameras. It’s for this reason that the role of the media has been so large following the events in Ferguson. Without it no one would have known how the situation was escalating. While students showed their appreciation for media communications of the truth, they condemned the actions of news outlets, such as Fox News, for misconstruing the events of the protests. They pinned the protesters with robbing stores while everything was going on which in fact was false. They switched the focus onto seemingly unruly protesters instead of addressing the true issue at hand: the death of an undeserving Michael Brown by the hands of Officer Darren Wilson.
What made this shooting of a black man, and the inappropriate handling of the case by the Ferguson police department, more despicable than in any other city? With shootings, profiling, and racial injustice happening in America everyday, the escalated events in Ferguson became a national symbol of racial injustice and police brutality. As one Conn student said about being a black man from Chicago, “black on black” violence is a daily occurrence, and people he’s known have died beside him. Police are following every minority in the city, looking at them as a threat. At the same time, people of color are saying the same about the police, that they are more threatening than protective. The people are scared.
In Ferguson the protesters weren’t afraid to finally stand up to the police that killed an unarmed teenage boy without justification. This is what makes Ferguson matter. People are finally speaking out against the injustices they are facing. One man took the internet by storm with a picture of him picking up a smoking tear gas can in an iconic and heroic stance. Early after this picture was released, it was thought he was fighting back at the police. In reality, the man stated himself that he was throwing the can away from a group of children in the area who were supporting the protests.
The teach-in talked about all of the issues surrounding Ferguson: police brutality, minorities, white supremacy, and more. The speeches attendees gave were moving and powerful, full of passion regarding the issues at hand. The closing remarks of the teach-in were by far the most emotional. People stood up and shared their insights about what they want to see and do to change our future relating to issues like those in Ferguson. People said they want to see more discussions and not let the conversation die down. Some said they want to incorporate the ideas of promoting awareness and equality into clubs on campus. One student said, “this shouldn’t be a teach-in, it should be a teach-out, somewhere on Temple Green, so people can walk by to see what’s happening, and more people can join in these conversations…” All the ideas and leaders that spoke that night motivated all 400 people in the room. Ferguson matters, and will continue to matter until we don’t have police brutality against people of color. It will matter until Michael Brown has the respect he deserves for his death. It matters because people facing racial discrimination matter.