[Oe List ...] FERGUSON SITUATION UPDATE, Weds, August 13- Monday, August 18

[Ellie Stock via OE]

Hi folks,

As you've been following the news, the saga in Ferguson/Dellwood continues--another update below.  Many of you have probably experienced similar situations in the 1960s or even much later. One song that was led by several black participants accompanied by a drum during a prayer march Saturday, was "This Little Light of Mine, I'm Going to Let It Shine".  I thought of Charles Moore.
Ellie
elliestock at aol.com 





























West Florissant Avenue was blocked off again Wednesday night, August 13--due to protesters in the street which ended in a confrontation with police/tear gas when the protestors wouldn't disperse.  Helicopters continued to hover over the area until after we went to bed at night.  Reporters and a St Louis alderman were arrested for no reason.



 

We continue to take our daily morning walks through the back streets of Dellwood (where we live--Dellwood is surrounded on three sides by Ferguson) and Ferguson and talk with black neighbors and residents.  All are against the violence but all feel the officer should be charged.  Some (but not all) of the protesting crowd is thinking with their feet and responding from emotion and personal experience of previous harassment by the police.  Others are praying calmly but earnestly with their feet. The protests will continue for a while.  
 
Thursday morning, August 14, one peaceful march went through the fire department prior to a press conference given by the police chief.  Senator Claire McCaskill was also in the neighborhood and responded to reporters after the press conference, expressing the hope that the militarization of the police response would decrease.  Gov. Nixon was back in town, put the highway patrol in charge of the riot control, met with a number of community groups and put in place a different plan for dealing with the protestors, especially during the evenings when crowds were gathering around the burned out QT station.  That seemed to work better--police interacting with the crowds instead of threatening them.
 
Thursday evening a peaceful march, consisting of church and other community groups was marching up and down West Florissant Road.  I would guess maybe 300 or more people were involved.  The road was open but traffic slow due to people gathering.  When we returned from an event at 11pm that same evening, crowds were still gathering and marching on the street.  
 
Marches and vigils were held in NYC, Chicago, Kansas City and other cities.  Ferguson covered in global news.
 
Friday morning, August 15, the Ferguson police chief announced the name of the police officer.  Unfortunately, he also gave info re a robbery that Michael Brown participated in before the police officer stopped him in the street--which was not related to the robbery.  That announcement plus still shots and video of the robbery are seen by the black community as a diversion by the police department to take the attention away from the killing of the teen and evidence in defense of the office; and it escalated the tension after it had quieted the night before.  
 
Name speakers, including Jesse Jackson spoke at a Methodist church in Ferguson tonight.  We decided not to go.  Crowds were still gathering and protesting on West Florissant--the main street where the "action" is occurring.  Al Sharpton returned for another rally Sunday.
 

Saturday, Aug 16, at noon, a week from the day/time Michael Brown was shot, we went to the prayer vigil organized by local ministerial groups.  It started at the site on Canfield Drive, the street where Michael Brown was killed.  It is the main, but not big, road in a low-income apartment complex. To our surprise, Jesse Jackson was there.  He was a much more subdued Jesse and led two very helpful prayers. Then pastors were asked to fan out and meet with/listen to residents on the street and around the apartment complex which we did for a while.  Then, we started walking toward West Florissant, turning on West Florissant and walking north into Dellwood up to Chambers and West Florissant (not quite a mile) The walk turned right and headed east on Chambers--we had to leave and walked back home.  There were hundreds involved, black and white, local, regional and out of town folk.  Peaceful but passionate.
 
After cleanup from some looting Friday night, people gathered on West Florissant all day, despite rain much of the day, most dispersing by the newly-established midnight curfew.  However there were those who were non-compliant, so the highway patrol (now in charge of crowd control) used tear gas to disperse some and arrested others.  One person was shot--not by police.  No looting Saturday night.
 
The helicopters stopped flying over but the whirling and swirling of competing multi-levels of law enforcement and governments trying to deal with this situation still hover over the situation.
 
By Sunday morning, August 17, the street was calm when we drove through on our way to church.  By the time we returned from church (almost 3pm), traffic was clogging the street--don't know if there was another march or people just rubbernecking as they drive by the protesters gathered there.  We turned off and took the back road home.

 
Sunday, we and part of the Earth Care Team led a service, that we had been preparing for weeks, at Second Presbyterian Church (Central West End, St Louis)--related to God's creation--originally to be held outside in Tower Grove Park, but due to the rain, we held it around tables in the fellowship hall, with an indoor picnic afterwards.  The theme of the service was "The Garden Extraordinaire" in three parts:  "Experiencing the Extraordinary (Awe and Wonder) in the Midst of the Ordinary", "The Groaning of Creation", and "Tending the Garden". Beginning with a context for the service and during "The Groaning of Creation" and "Tending the Garden"  and intercessory prayers, we were able to reflect/share around the tables the issues re caring for God's creation and also the Ferguson situation and write down some next possible steps to support Ferguson and address racism.  During the offertory, I sang a song I wrote "Let the Earth Breathe".  The last lines are timely for both creation and civil unrest:
 
Let rhythms of peace still conflict's pace,
emerging, connecting in trust's healing place,
bold creatures revealing hope's eternal face,
beloving, one dwelling in Earth's sacred space.

 
 
Sunday afternoon we watched the Al Sharpton rally held in a packed church where Michael Brown's parents, their lawyer, Jesse Jackson, Capt. Johnson (Highway patrol officer in charge of crowd control) were present.  In the evening, before curfew, the turbulence returned.  Again, on TV, we watched until after midnight reporters making the announcement about the autopsy, the protestors, the looters, the armed police and trucks maneuvering for control of West Florissant Road.  As the crowd was dispersed with tear gas, protestors and looters moved north on West Florissant into Dellwood, three blocks from our house.  We heard gunshots from our house.  The now-familiar helicopter returned, hovering noisily overhead with its spotlight focused on West Florissant--not a comforting lullaby.
 
Monday, August 18, schools' starting date was postponed again.  The National Guard is on site.  A press conference was held with more details about the autopsy--conflicting conclusions being used from these preliminary results of the autopsy.  More comments from Gov. Nixon, President Obama.  Protests in downtown St. Louis.  The residents, feeling unsettled, are disgusted with the violence that has destroyed much, disrupted the daily work and patterns of the community, and don't want the violent elements of the protestors to be tolerated.   A peaceful protest to end at sundown is being called for this evening.  Meetings of collaborating groups continue to evolve.  Reporters are ubiquitous.
 
And so the situation continues to unfold, minute by minute.
 
 

























 




















 












 



 



 



 



 



 








 
  
 
  
 









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