Barkley co-signs killing of black teens Chales Barkley voiced his support of the grand jury’s decision not to indict former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for killing Mike Brown.
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited DECEMBER 4 – 10, 2014
COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Ferguson Community demands to be heard
Vol. 85 No. 35
Protest leaders meet with Obama ‘This is a movement that cannot be ignored’ By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Pastor Traci Blackmon, a member of the Ferguson Commission, talks with Ferguson resident Dale Taylor. Blackmon went into the audience to engage with citizens during the commission’s first public meeting on Dec. 1.
Ferguson Commission meeting taken over by grieving, angry public By Rebecca Rivas and Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American For the first two-and-a-half hours, the inaugural Ferguson Commission meeting passed without incident on Monday afternoon at the Ferguson Community
Center. Fourteen of the 16 individuals appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon sat before a crowd of more than 100 to work towards healing a community that came unhinged in August after the shooting death of 18-year-old unarmed teen Michael Brown Jr. at the hands of now former Ferguson
Police Officer Darren Wilson. Their intention was to take the first step in building sustainable solutions towards restoring the community of Ferguson and North St. Louis County. Young activist Rasheed Aldridge Jr.
A group of protest leaders told President Barack Obama on Monday, December 1 that setting up a taskforce to study community policing and asking Congress to fund 50,000 body-worn cameras for police is a start to addressing police brutality in America – but it’s only the beginning of working toward systemic change. Obama invited into the Oval Office seven black and Latino organizers who have been on the frontlines of protest actions in Ferguson and nationwide for more than 115 days since Michael Brown Jr.’s shooting death. Primarily led by young people of color, protestors have shut down highways, disrupted Black Friday sales – which n “We are saw a $7-billion decline from last year’s sick and sales – and walked out of schools and workplaces. The organizers – who led tired of our actions in New York City; Columbus, lives not Ohio; Miami and St. Louis – told the mattering, President that people are not just fighting and our against the St. Louis County grand jury’s organized failure to indict now former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in Brown’s movement death. They want a stronger accountability will not system for police at both the local and relent until federal level. we see “The President requested this meeting because this is a movement that cannot be justice.” ignored,” said Ashley Yates, a co-founder of the St. Louis-based organization – Ashley Millennial Activists United. “We have Yates, two sets of laws in America – one for Millennial young black and brown people, and one Activists for the police. We are sick and tired of United our lives not mattering, and our organized movement will not relent until we see justice.” The young leaders told their personal accounts of St. Louis police “terrorizing,” they said, peaceful protesters with pointed guns, rubber bullets, chemical agents, bean bags and menacing threats. They also spoke of the routine harassment and violence that many police departments inflict on communities of color. See OBAMA, A7
See FERGUSON, A6
Students, faculty walk out, ‘die in’ Ferguson movement draws support from universities and high schools By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Lawrence Bryant
Rams hands up Rams players Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, Chris Givens and Kenny Britt entered the ield of play at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday, November 30 with their hands upraised, in solidarity with the Ferguson protest movement and its “Hands up, don’t shoot!” mantra.
A small group of students and faculty members at Saint Louis University joined others at the University of MissouriSt. Louis, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and Clayton High School in a nationwide mass walk out on Monday, December 1. At 12:01 CST on Monday – a day marking nearly 60 years since Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus – people simultaneously walked out of schools and places of work or temporarily shut down businesses. They stood in solidarity with Ferguson and communities across the country affected by police violence. Protestors took to streets declaring that “Black Lives Matter” after a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict now former See STUDENTS, A7