Original subtitles

Police are confirming a male subject

And he put his hands in the air,

and he started to get down.

But the officer fired several more shots.

Several thousand people have gathered here

behind Captain Ron Johnson, the man who is in charge

of trying to keep security.

We lost a young man, Michael Brown,

in heartbreaking and tragic circumstances.

He was 18 years old.

My name is Cedric the Entertainer.

Ron Johnson and I both grew up near Ferguson,

and we've been friends for decades.

That's why Mike Brown's death

and what followed hurt so deeply.

It's been ten years,

and this can't continue to be our truth.

I was standing outside the barber shop.

I heard a lot of gunshots.

Kind of startled me.

It's common to hear gunshots, but not like that, you know.

The use of deadly force by the police

is once again under investigation.

An officer in Ferguson, Missouri,

shot an unarmed Black man to death that sparked protests

along with calls for answers.

My phone started ringing like crazy.

Killed him for no reason.

It's just crazy to know that it was residents

and young folks and old folks

and everybody who's having to see this situation.

Oh, no. Oh, no.

Oh, I didn't know the police shot him.

Yeah, police did.

I had just attended a Black troopers conference

in Milwaukee when I got the call on August 9th.

Well, the initial conversation was just that there had been

a young man who had been involved

in an officer-involved shooting, had lost his life,

and our officers were responding to assist

Ferguson Police Department at the scene.

And so it really didn't set off any bells and whistles

because I wasn't given any facts of what had happened.

I got a second call that the crowds had gotten bigger.

I got the third call.

We're sending more officers because the crowd is

getting angry, because the young man

is still lying in the streets.

No justice, no peace!

It was a hot summer day.

I was getting ready for a show that evening,

and I got a message.

I pulled up my Twitter, and the first picture I see

is the picture of Michael Brown's stepfather holding

a sign saying that Ferguson Police Department

had murdered his unarmed son.

All this unpacked trauma just started to release itself.

You know, I had experienced police brutality in my family,

and before I knew it, I just had tears coming down my face.

And next thing I know I was on West Florissant.

When we pulled up, Mike's mother ran past me,

and she was like, is it true, Mike?

And I'm like, I...

I don't know.

And I followed, running behind her,

and I see all these people.

And I'm like, all right.

We didn't see what the world seen.

When we got there, Mike was covered up.

But it was key things.

It was a hat that we had shared.

You know, I had gotten married a few months earlier.

He was my best man.

The flip-flops that, you know, we bought together,

two of them was in the street.

This is a kind of big guy up under this little sheet,

you know.

The people that had got rage like me

got a lot of that feel from...

From him laying on the ground for so long.

This kid laid there for four hours.

I got up there about... Almost four hours

after Michael Brown had been shot.

The fire department's hosing

Michael Brown's blood off the street.

Michael Brown's mother marched down the street

with a group of other people,

and they dropped some rose petals on the street

where his blood still was.

The officer said Michael Brown's mother was

there at the scene and really distraught.

I was probably eight or nine when I remember getting home

and my mother saying, well, if you want to change something,

maybe you ought to become a policeman.

And so it kind of rekindled when I got older.

My mother was a schoolteacher.

She taught in the Ferguson-Florissant

School District her whole career.

Ferguson was really known as a place that had

a little more stricter rules.

There was even discussion for years to build

a wall to separate Ferguson

from the neighboring all-Black community of Kinloch.

As we became the age where we would drive,

you know, she would often tell us,

don't even go that way if we could.

Go around it. Don't go through Ferguson.

August 9th, it was kind of the norm.

Didn't think much of it until probably that night

when I started to see protests erupt

from people being frustrated.

The police force was huge.

You know, even before it became national news,

it was like, boom.

There was the social media news.

Immediately called my daughter.

I need to know where you are, what you doing.

Are you going over there?

She knew people that lived over there,

so her reaction is going to be like, yo, I'm jumping in it,

you know, which is super St. Louis.

It's just... we in it.

Police are confirming a male subject

was shot and killed by police.

Dozens of police officers were called to the scene.

Rick Wallace, CBS News, St. Louis.

This really is the space.

I mean, you're thinking we're right here in the middle

of this complex, and to have this incident happen here

and to have the body be here for so long.

It is tough being here.

When you walk down the sidewalk and look to the left

and look to the right,

there's still this sense of pain.

You could feel all of that in here right now.

You know what I'm saying?

On August 10th, I actually got called to the scene.

I was there representing the Highway Patrol.

And I stood on the street, and I looked down

and didn't speak a word to anyone.

There was just an immediate fear.

And not a fear for me,

but a fear for our community.

Put your hands up!

I was thinking about the East St. Louis race riots

and that massacre in 1917

and that, sadly, here we had come full circle, yet again,

with the death of a young, unarmed African American male

at the hand of a policeman

that also was a result of decades

of bad public policy that led to the overwhelming rage

and resentment that you saw from the young people

in the streets.

You guys are the aggressors!

You guys are the ones that pushed us!

I remember interactions as a teen in the Ferguson area.

I grew up in that area off of West Florissant.

It was shocking.

Streets were cut off.

It was chaos.

You can feel the tension bubbling.

What was the next step going to be?

It's crazy.

QuikTrip was on fire.

A big fire too.

I mean, it was a gas station.

That was the second day.

Literally the second day.

The whole sky was red.

You could see the flames from miles away.

They were just shooting up in the sky.

There were people everywhere.

You could hear the gunshots.

Over there!

We weren't coming down because of the danger

that were there right at that moment.

Watching the QuikTrip being burned

reminded me of my childhood.

I grew up in the '60s, and I saw this before.

The anger, the violence,

the rage,

all the emotions that could possibly come

out of a situation like this.

You must disperse immediately.

There was a tear gas canister

that came out into the crowd,

and it landed in the middle of the crowd, exploded.

And the people began running every which way.

Turn around.

Why do you have guns on us?

My boss said that the governor was going

to have a press conference.

I was standing next to the St. Louis County police chief,

and he said, "Ron, do you know why we're here?

What is the governor going to do?"

And I said, "I have no idea."

The governor walks in the room.

We need to address some very immediate challenges.

That's why today, I'm announcing that

the Missouri Highway Patrol, under the supervision

of Captain Ron Johnson, who grew up in this area,

will be the directing the team that

provides security in Ferguson.

Now, what I'm announcing today does not affect...

That's a wild job, right?

A job where you go, like, look, I'm just here to be

a part of the situation and help out.

And someone goes, hey, you, you're running things now.

I want to introduce, for you to make

a few comments, Captain Ron Johnson

of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

It felt like an unprepared moment

where somebody could pass a buck, and if things go awry,

and then it's not on my watch.

And so we are going to have a different approach

and have the approach that we're in this together.

And say what?

Yeah, come on out front.

Speak to the camera.

And, you know, you don't know until you're in the middle

of a press conference.

Just imagine, you just kind of standing there,

like, with everybody else, and as a matter of fact,

Captain Ron Johnson is taking over right now.

Come again?

I left the press conference after finding out,

and I was in a vehicle with three other troopers.

And so I called my wife.

I told her that the governor had just announced that he was

going to make a change in leadership

and that he had put me in charge of Ferguson.

And my first reaction was, why?

You know, why you?

And it wasn't because I didn't think he was capable.

It was just I've watched two days of what's going on,

and it was kind of scary.

The troopers in the car were trying

to listen to the conversation.

And I said, yes, he picked me.

And she said, well, use your inside voice,

and why did he pick you?

And I said, OK, I love you, and I'll talk to you later.

And so then I hung up the phone.

This is the Highway Patrol.

Disperse immediately.

For him to be the man called upon to actually have

to understand both sides of it,

to communicate both sides of it,

is a very unique person.

My greatest fear was that he was going to be the fall guy.

When I got home last night, before I got into bed,

like I do each and every night, I prayed,

and I prayed for a different morning today.

I found out that I was going to be in charge

during this press conference.

And, you know, I remember one reporter saying...

What are you going to do differently tonight?

Are you still going to roll in there

with armored vehicles and police in, you know,

full body gear?

Or are you going to have...

Well, of course, I wanted to say,

well, I just found out 15 minutes ago,

so I don't really have a plan.

But I said...

We're going to start from today.

We're not going to look back in the past.

I think I was at home.

I wasn't even out there when they announced it.

And I started seeing him out more.

We were there when he addressed

hundreds of protesters.

Say what you gotta say.

And just do it in peace.

Just do it in peace.

When I really had the chance to really see him,

I seen what type of role he was playing

and was trying to build policing

and community together.

I love you all.

We love you.

I wasn't ready for that conversation myself,

but I understood why he was...

He took that position to do that.

And immediately, he was well-received

by the folks here.

He's connected.

He's connected to us, and we were happy.

When I got in that car, I knew that there

was a planned march.

And so I told the troopers...

I said, let's go to where this march is going to begin.

And we got one mission in the mind.

And what's that mission?

No justice... No peace!

No justice...

By the time Captain Johnson came into that role,

we were always out in the streets with the young people.

I knew that what they originally

tried in the militarism that was happening,

they didn't expect the resistance that they were

getting from the young people.

That's on innocent people.

I knew someone was coming, but I did not

know it was Captain Johnson.

We were lining up to march,

and I saw him standing on the side.

I walked up to her, and I said, well,

I'm here because I want to march with the group

as they walk down West Florissant.

And she immediately said, I'd rather you not.

And I could see in his face that he was hurt

and surprised and disappointed.

And I said, no, I really want to march.

And she says, I'd rather you not.

Young people were being assaulted by tear gas

and snipers on roofs and tanks that we didn't even know

were in St. Louis.

We were in the streets in response

to what I consider to be justified rage.

It's more than Michael Brown.

You take away their child and then you tell them,

you can't do nothing about it, we're

going to leave him out here like a carcass,

people gonna react.

And the uniform that he was wearing

meant that if I was walking with him, that I would have

lost the trust of the people that I had

promised to be in the streets with,

and I could not risk that.

I just need justice for my son.

And that's right.

I need... I need justice for my son.

Yes, sir.

Yes.

My biggest thing is, it always been the uniform,

you know.

The uniform always changes the conversation, the role.

That's how that was for me in the beginning, you know.

I understand our police are not bad.

I understand that it's one person that killed my son.

It took me a while to get there, though, you know.

But that uniform used to...

Yeah, you got that uniform on, I ain't messing with you,

you know.

I left that press conference,

and maybe my head began to swell

in thinking it was all about me.

When she denied me the ability to march, it humbled me.

And I remember looking at her with tears in my eyes

because I knew I had no plan.

And I said, pastor...

I said, this is all I have.

I need to march.

And my recognizing that although he

was in the uniform of law enforcement,

he was also in the skin of a Black man.

And I knew without even having to have him say it,

I saw in his eyes how hurt he was that he

wasn't going to be able to take off either one

of those identities.

She looked at me and said, I want

you to march in front with me.

- Hands up! - Don't shoot!

- Hands up! - Don't shoot!

- Hands up! - Don't shoot!

- Hands up! - Don't shoot!

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Ferguson

last night, but now accompanied

by law enforcement, including

Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson.

I met Captain Ron Johnson marching

in the middle of the street.

It's peaceful, so I think it's been going good.

They would always send a Black face out to talk

to us to get our attention.

And we respected Ron Johnson because he was a Black man.

So we talked to him.

And his intentions may have been pure.

He was open to conversation.

But meanwhile, while those conversations was happening,

Ferguson and St. Louis County were coddling

and preparing a strategy to do all

these unspeakable things to us the minute he walked away.

So I'm here to talk about two things.

First of all, the name of the officer

involved in the shooting and then

about a robbery that occurred on August 9

immediately preceding the altercation

and shooting death of Michael Brown.

And I'm going to be releasing the video footage

of a robbery, a strong-arm robbery,

with use of force that occurred

at a local convenience mart.

The officer that was involved in the shooting

of Michael Brown was Darren, D-A-R-R-E-N,

Wilson, W-I-L-S-O-N.

The family was outraged this

morning when the video was

released, along with the name

of the officer who shot Brown.

Many people here in the community

felt this was being done to suggest that Michael Brown

had been involved in some kind of a crime,

and many residents felt that this was a way for the police

to justify their actions.

Johnson was not aware that the police chief was going

to be releasing that video.

The community was angry, and it seemed like my word

wasn't good at that point.

There was some applause when you were

appointed to this position.

Then I hear you say that you weren't included in the release

of the information, although you're

in this high-profile position.

I find it utterly disgusting.

And this is all figurehead stuff.

What do you gotta say to that...

Well, I can tell you that's not the case.

And I tell you, there's going to be a serious conversation

when I leave here.

You see, you know, the people fighting back,

and it just kind of felt like we will fight this machine.

And I think that that was... That's a spirit that you love

to see in people, like, this idea that, I am truly,

truly fed up.

- Hands up! - Don't shoot!

Hands up!

Don't shoot!

There was a convenience store where Michael Brown Jr.

Had gone in, and a group said they were

going to burn down the store.

Then nightfall came, and this large group

descended on the store.

We could hear gunshots.

There were three or four SWAT teams

on the hill behind me,

and hundreds of officers were there,

ready to go down the street and confront the rioters that

were breaking into the store.

And I began to have many challenges with those officers

that I was leading.

I wanted them to know that I was a policeman, too.

And I said, well, tell the SWAT team to suit up.

I could hear the officers behind me saying,

maybe he's OK.

Finally, he's acting like one of us.

I was being a selfish leader.

I was going to send them down that hill

because I wanted them to believe in me,

see me as one of them.

But then I looked down that hill and said,

someone down that hill could lose their life,

and someone behind me could lose theirs.

I could take a pencil and paper and value that store

and value all the assets in it,

but there's no pencil and paper

that could value those lives that

were breaking into that store and those officers behind me.

And I remember saying to the SWAT leader, stand down.

I can't express all the names and the comments that I heard.

And I stood there, and I took it.

But I knew that I had done the right thing.

I remember coming home from work after being

at the protest and just crying and feeling like, you know,

it had sucked to be a Black man in America.

Because you had the media constantly calling

Mike Brown a thug. Yeah.

You had the media also saying the protests

are just looters and riots.

All the negativity made it seem like what

we were doing at some point was kind of for naught.

You know, a lot of these mom-and-pop businesses were

concerned as the looters were going in and out last night,

taking stuff from their business.

And they were saying, where were the police?

Why didn't they intervene?

You know, you come home and you have a wife who's

asking you a thousand questions and asking you if you're OK,

and you have to say yes.

I knew things were intense for him.

Ron would just get home 3:00 in the morning, not say much,

get into bed, and just curl up in a fetal position, literally.

And you can't even tell her the pain or even

some of the comments that people are throwing your way,

and whether it's the comments from other policemen

or whether it's the comments from the protesters.

Tears are rolling down your face,

but you can't whimper because you don't want her to hear it.

And so you are alone.

And his back was usually to me, so I

would just go and hug him.

And I don't know if he ever fell asleep.

And once I made sure Lori was in the bed,

I'd go in our bathroom and pray because I didn't

want her to hear my prayer.

And, of course, you're praying that God watches over her.

And if there's a life that you have to take, let it be mine,

but I don't want any blood on my hands.

Don't let there be blood on my hands.

Lori was in this home by herself.

And my fear was that someone would find out

where I live and attack our home,

that she would be confronted with what

was going on in Ferguson.

And that was a fear as I walked the streets of Ferguson.

We'll just come back here.

After dark is when things got tense and scary.

Move, dammit!

Move, dammit!

I don't know if he's going to get shot

by someone rioting or maybe someone in law enforcement

not liking him.

That... those were my thoughts.

I was afraid for...

For him.

This is what heroes are made of.

This is a person that is trying to solve

and help a problem that is, you know, beyond the scope.

You understand everybody point of view, right?

Understand the culture and community.

- Hands up! - Don't shoot!

- Hands up! - Don't shoot!

And also understand that as a police officer,

we got a job to do.

This was on every news channel, every TV in St. Louis.

You could go nowhere and not see it.

And so I'm sitting in my barber's chair

that I've been in for years, and my dad comes on to the TV.

You know, I'm kind of excited.

I tell my barber...

I'm like, hey, you know, that's my dad.

And he immediately says, hey, you may

not want to say that too loud.

And I kind of got taken aback a little bit.

I'm like, why, man? This is awesome, you know.

I would tell everybody in the shop, that's my dad.

We can... we got somebody.

And he said, man, there's a lot of mixed feelings about that,

and I don't necessarily think you want to hear what they

may have to say about him.

I was worried about Ron's safety at times.

Some people in the crowd really

are upset with the police,

and I don't know how this is going to go.

And I have pictures of him surrounded by protesters,

and they're all really wanting to hear what he has to say.

There was also two different Fergusons during the day.

You could bring your kids down to that protest.

And then things would change at night.

Nighttime would be crazy and frantic.

Good afternoon.

I want to first start by thanking all the elected

officials and faith leaders.

The governor decided to put in a curfew.

So to protect the people and property of Ferguson,

today, I signed an order declaring

a state of emergency and implementation of a curfew.

Of course, the rioters didn't like that.

You are violating the state-imposed curfew.

At 12:01, we'll be here.

We got the same ammunition you got.

We live.

The governor has enacted a curfew

to allow us to provide safety for the citizens of Ferguson,

but also to maintain the right of the people.

They say the revolution won't be televised

And, of course, when the curfew came,

they were still on the streets of West Florissant.

They attempted to send on the command post,

and they got really close.

There were bricks in the street that

would stop the police armored vehicles

from getting down the streets.

And it was a really tense night.

Back off! Back off!

Then at that press conference,

after we brought some calm, I said that I was disappointed.

And tonight...

It started with prayers and messages

of unity, peace, and justice.

Took a very different turn after dark.

Those words were taken by the governor

as I was saying I was disappointed in his actions

to put in the curfew.

But I was really speaking to the people that

were on the streets, the rioters,

and I was disappointed in them.

My boss called.

And he said, Ron, we can tell that you're...

You're tired.

And I said I was fine.

He says, well, your comments about the governor's curfew

last night, we think you made that by accident because you

were tired and not really thinking about what

you're going to say.

And he said, we're going to have

someone else do all the speaking from here out

at the press conference.

What's going on.

Thank you all very much for your time.

At that point, I felt that maybe...

What was next?

Was the next call going to be, "You're going

to lose your command"?

Can I get my picture taken with you?

Yes.

How you doing, man?

How you doing?

Nice to meet you.

I met Ron pledging Kappa, and that's when

I developed the laugh, too.

The smooth...

It's a laugh that is very infectious.

And even though, you know, he's right in your age group,

he was one of those people that had life by the reins.

He had cool clothes, you know.

Yeah. You hate to give it up to him.

But, yeah, I mean, you gotta give it.

He was the model and what you want to follow.

Well, I was a man first, and then a Black man

and then, of course, all those other things.

A father, a son, a friend, an uncle.

Being a trooper is actually... Was far down on the list.

Those other things are what makes me.

You know, my mom is 83 years old, from the old school.

And she would say, you know, son,

you have to be careful on what you say because everybody's

not going to like that.

And she was worried about my life.

And to hear your mother say that is really tough,

and... and you have to say, hey, everything's OK.

No one is treating me bad.

And she would ask me, well, what about the guys

that you work with?

You don't want to make them mad.

And I would say that they're OK,

even though everybody wasn't.

I get a phone call on a Thursday.

They said, look, they're trying to find a place to hold

a rally for Mike Brown.

Would you be willing to do it?

I said, yes.

Put your hands together.

Hey!

If you know you're blessed tonight,

you oughtta make some noise.

The place was full inside.

The property was full around the church.

I've heard that they didn't want

the police to say anything.

I know Captain Johnson.

He's a good man.

And I knew he wanted to say something.

So I made a decision.

I tell you what I'm going to do.

I just saw Captain Johnson.

I had this speech written that I was going to say,

and it kind of had those perfect points

that you need to say as a law enforcement officer.

But there was something that I should have done day one when

I was put in charge of Ferguson.

Good evening. Good evening.

I told myself that this was going

to be the last time that I talked,

that I needed to reveal my soul as a man.

That wasn't written.

It wasn't until that I thought I was going to lose something,

that something was going to be taken away from me, that I

stood up and had the courage to say that I was

sorry that you lost your son.

I want to start off by talking to Mike Brown's family.

And I want you to know my heart goes out to you,

and I say that I'm sorry.

I wear this uniform, and I should stand up

here and say that I'm sorry.

And so I said that.

This is my neighborhood.

Yes, sir.

You are my family.

You are my friends.

And I am you.

That night and that day was the hardest day that I had.

Because once I said that I was sorry that they lost their son,

a lot of people in uniform, different police

chiefs and those that I were leading,

said that I chose a side.

And many said that I shouldn't be in charge anymore,

that I had ruined things.

But I needed to stand for the person that I was.

And I knew that I was a better person than that.

And I had seen Michael Brown Jr.'s mom, Lesley, one day

at our command post and looked her in the eye

and didn't have the compassion or the courage to say,

I'm sorry you lost your son.

I was going to say it this day.

And if this community or America

would say that, you should have said it sooner,

they were right.

But then I also talked about my son.

I'm going to go in my son's room, my Black son...

Who wears his pants sagging, wears

his hat cocked to the side, got tattoos on his arms.

But that's my baby.

I wanted this world to know who this man was.

Well, this is the cemetery where my father

and brother are both buried.

I guess it's ironic that I would

come here the day after that speech at Greater Grace.

You know, I really thought that I was failing after that day,

but a sense I needed to come here and kind of

speak with them...

Yeah.

And, you know, tell my father,

hopefully you're proud of me.

I believe I had failed because I didn't stand up day one

and show compassion to Mike Brown Jr.'s mother and father.

I knew that I was walking in faith with my God each

and every day, but I needed to feel that these two were

walking beside me in spirit.

If my days were numbered as the commander,

I wanted to feel that these two were proud of me.

I think, you know, it puts it all in perspective.

Brown was struck by six bullets.

We've got one to the very top of the head.

We've got one that entered just above the right eyebrow.

Those two appeared to have hit Brown last and were fatal.

Death was nearly instantaneous.

Missouri's governor is sending

the National Guard to bring peace and order

to the city of Ferguson.

Move away. You're going to get hurt.

You hear the tear gas canisters going off.

You hear the sirens.

It is a very frightening scene.

When a person is policing a community

and they just don't have no idea

what the people are about.

You know what I mean? So...

It looks like a mini military force just moving

in and clearing the street.

I think that I'd say that's the super difference of being

able to fire so many shots at someone, too, because you just

don't have an opportunity to see yourself in any aspect

of that circumstance.

We all good.

All this time that I've been a policeman,

maybe I hadn't been true to myself,

and I hadn't been honest of who I was

and that maybe I took on a persona

that this uniform made me, this uniform validated me.

And so I began to look at myself.

The public had this other impression of me

of just this policeman, that I didn't understand, that I had

never walked or lived a similar life

because I was different, because I wore that uniform.

I was with some officers, and they

kind of looked at me when I said,

yes, I'm not wearing a vest.

I can't fear people that look like me, people

from this community.

Captain Johnson.

I caught him on the news, and you can tell...

I mean, I don't know if anybody's ever paid attention.

But if they have on their Kevlar,

their shirts just go straight down.

Well, his shirt looked like it was just free-floating.

And I was like, hm, he doesn't have on his vest.

When you took the Kevlar off, you know, I was like,

that's actually probably the wisest thing you can do.

I'm giving you respect by doing this.

Like, listen, I'm coming over here without all the pomp

and circumstance of the job.

Ron, where's your vest?

Why didn't you have on your vest?

I think whatever reassuring words

he said, the hug or whatever, it made

me feel comfortable that he's going

to put it back on tomorrow.

He didn't.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder arrived in Ferguson,

Missouri, on Wednesday.

- My man. - It's going good.

Last night looked a little better, huh?

I had the support from the attorney general here,

and I took that as support from the president.

It felt good.

The schools were closed, and so there was a makeshift

daycare for young kids.

I was asked if I could come to the daycare.

So I went, and sitting down with my legs

crossed on the floor with all of these kids.

And, of course, they're asking a lot of questions and,

"Do you like donuts?"

And those kind of things.

But when I got ready to leave, they gave me this sock puppet.

At the end of the day, I would display a table,

cover it up with a sheet, and underneath

would be any weapons or Molotov cocktails

or whatever we took from the rioters.

But the day that I had gotten this sock puppet

was the day that we had not taken any weapons

from the streets of Ferguson.

And then I had officers pull that sheet away,

and the only thing that was there was that sock puppet.

And I tell you, isn't it a better sight that

can bring a smile to our face?

Next day, there was peace on the streets.

The mood here has definitely changed compared

to just a couple of days ago.

People are very calm, very relaxed.

You actually see people embracing each other.

A lot of people are carrying red roses.

It's just a much different, much less confrontational,

much friendlier atmosphere.

I have no fear.

I believe we're headed toward peace.

And that was one of the last days

that we had an encounter on West Florissant.

Last night's protest over the deadly police shooting

were much smaller and quieter.

If I knew that a sock puppet could bring peace that quick,

I'd have gone and met those kids a lot sooner.

No one believes Ferguson's problems have been solved,

but the city is slowly regaining its footing.

I figured it out day by day.

There was no book that was ever written.

I had never been trained and we had never dealt with anything

like this in our lifetime.

Some of our lives have purpose as we walk this Earth.

Some of our lives have purpose when we're not here.

True.

Today it's the first time that I've actually had

a chance to read this plaque.

"May 20, 1996 to August 9, 2014."

"I would like the memory of Michael

Brown to be a happy one."

"He left an afterglow of smiles when life was done."

"He leaves an echo, whispering softly down

"the ways of happy and loving times

and bright and sunny days."

"He'd like the tears of those who grieve to dry before

"the sun of happy memories that he left

behind when life was done."

"When life was done."

He's 18.

We die at alarming rates to law enforcement,

to overpolicing, to predatory policing,

to systemic injustice.

We die.

It's not like we get a slap on the wrist

or a traffic ticket here and there.

We literally lose our lives.

My folks are traumatized by racism.

When these things happen, the world moves on,

but Black folks have to still put and piece things together.

And so that is what's happening

within the Black community,

as it always has.

All I want is peace.

Please, take a day of silence.

I saw this decay.

I said, we have to do something.

You know, we can't just let this building sit here, burn

to the ground as a show of everything that's wrong.

And we have to turn it into something positive.

We had over 80% Black businesses

to build this building, a community center

rising out of the ashes.

We chose to double down in an area

that could really use the...

The rebuilding to bounce back from a traumatizing experience.

What happened with Ferguson is collective-based trauma.

It's not only individual level, but it's

also at a community level.

We are all Michael Brown!

And then if you're not able to process that in a way

that is healthy, that will

impact you 10 years later

and even impact your children.

And so it's very important that we do the work.

Since August 9, 2014, I have been running,

and I had to put myself in a place

where I can try to heal a little bit.

I'd never be healed.

I had to get therapy, my whole family get therapy.

I'm not going to say that this trauma don't come in spurts.

And I got three grandbabies now, you know.

Well, I got one in the oven.

I got two, you know.

So I have to lead by example for them.

And I'm humbled to be here with Mike Brown Sr.

He moves forward for his son.

I promised this community that I would move forward for it,

but I also move forward to make this better for my son

and my daughter and my grandkids.

We can have partner and share this mission

of change that's going to make us all

grow and make our city better.

And I think if we can make our city better,

others will gravitate to it.

Others can learn from it, and they

can make our country better.

It surprised me when I realized it was 10 years.

Michael Brown was one of those pivotal moments.

Unfortunately, we had to live through so many others.

Even still, to this day, they're still just problematic,

but it's also an opportunity for awareness

and to push for change.

I think we could work together.

You know, I don't see a problem with it.

We share the same self-interests, you know,

and that's saving these Black boys and girls.

So that's something we can talk about.

You know, we can do some one-on-ones

and organize something and build it.

You know, I'm willing to sit down and have

that conversation with you.

Mike Brown Jr.'s life

has changed this country

and will make life better for people that live it today

and people that are unborn, whether they realize it

or not or whether they accept it or not

or give it credit or not.

Ah.

Come on, man.

All right.

Cool.