Fwd: Justice for Mike Brown
Mel Packer
Matthew – You've probably heard about the racially-motivated killing of Mike Brown – an unarmed 18-year-old, in Ferguson, Missouri. It's tragic, and should have never happened.
Myself and a lot of the other fast food workers who are active with Show Me $15 – our St. Louis movement – live in North County, in and around Ferguson. Mike's killing, and the Ferguson Police Department's reaction since, has turned our community upside down, and fast food workers have been active helping to bring our community together to demand justice.
It's a stark reminder that the impacts of poverty wages are about way more than just having enough money and getting by – that it's about justice and how we're treated as human beings. And like we've learned since we started organizing for $15 an hour here, if we don't fight back no one will.
Enough is enough. It's time for the community to stand together and demand justice. We're working with Color of Change and the NAACP, and I hope you'll join us.
See the message below and take action to demand justice right now.
Jeanina JenkinsFerguson McDonald's employee
Show Me $15 member
PS: There are dozens of vigils being held across the country tonight at 7:00 ET, and more being added throughout the day. See if there's one near you on the National Moment of Silence Facebook page.
Dear Matthew,
Just days ago, a Ferguson police officer racially profiled and fatally shot unarmed, Black, 18-year-old, Michael Brown as he walked to his grandmother's residence with a friend.(1) Eye witnesses report that the police officer, who has yet to be identified, fired several shots at Michael as the teen stood in the street with his hands in the air. The family and local community members are calling his death an execution.
Dorian Johnson, Michael's good friend, who experienced the entire police killing from just feet away, spoke out immediately.(2) Detailing the entire police attack, Dorian revealed the officer's malice from start to finish, with the officer's first words to the teens, "get the f–k on the sidewalk." As the officer's aggression escalated, and he fired the first shots into Michael, the teens ran in fear for their lives. As Michael stood in the street with his hands in the air, the officer fired the fatal shots. Michael's last words were, "I don't have a gun, stop shooting!" He was set to start college just two days later.
Law enforcement officials are working hard to construct a false narrative and make it harder to hold the officers accountable, even refusing to interview the primary eye-witness of the police killing.(3) Enough is enough. This tragic police killing is representative of the systemic police abuse affecting Black communities in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country.
Last year, Black Missouri residents were 66% more likely to be stopped by police, and more likely to be arrested, even though white residents were more likely to be found with contraband.(4) And despite representing just a third of Ferguson's population, Black people are 86% of those stopped by police while driving.(5) Decades of entrenched police violence and racial profiling policies targeting Black youth on the basis of dehumanizing stereotypes has led to the brutal police murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Thanks and peace,
– Matt, Rashad, Arisha, Jamar, Lyla and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
References
1. "Unarmed 18-year-old man shot dead by police in Missouri: witnesses," NY Daily News, 08-10-14
http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/4232?t=7&akid=5138.1582771.fIgWF0
2. "Eyewitness to Michael Brown shooting recounts his friend's death," MSNBC 08-12-2014
http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/4233?t=9&akid=5138.1582771.fIgWF0
3. See reference 3.
4. "Michael Brown and disparity of due process," St. Louis Post-Dispatch 08-11-2014
http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/4234?t=11&akid=5138.1582771.fIgWF0
5. "Black residents in Ferguson, Missouri, are stopped and arrested far more than whites," BuzzFeed, 08-11-14
http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/4235?t=13&akid=5138.1582771.fIgWF0
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