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michael brown
Remembering Mike Brown: Recommitting to the Fight for Power
As the nation reflects on how Ferguson changed the world, I’m asking that you think about what we have to do in the next 10 years to ensure that we’re moving closer to a world where uprisings like that one aren’t necessary.
Aug 14, 2024
On August 9, 2014, I was at the United Nations, attending the Convention on Eliminating Racial Discrimination, or UN CERD, as part of a delegation of Black organizers and activists who were testifying to the conditions of Black people in the United States organized by the U.S. Human Rights Network. I cried for the greater part of that day, sitting with the weight of the injustices and murders of Black people.
There was a chill in the air and not a dry eye in the room at the UN CERD as Trayvon Martin’s mom, Sybrina Fulton, testified about the murder of her son. I remember the testimony of Jordan Davis’ father, Ron Davis, about the murder of his son and the silence that fell as he broke into tears. Both of their sons were murdered by state-sanctioned violence—by the state emboldening police, or even neighborhood watch volunteers, to take Black lives with impunity. I can still hear the testimonies of Black feminist organizations like Black Women’s Blueprint and activists from Chicago who spoke about police violence and murders of Black women and men. I spoke and testified about housing insecurities and violence against LGBTQI+ people. For us, all of those stories were connected and shared—they were all about Black lives not being valued and Black folks needing to build people power in order to stop it.
While at U.N. CERD, an African diplomat asked, “What is happening in Ferguson?” This was the first time I had heard of Ferguson, Missouri. I quickly researched all I could about Ferguson and what was happening. As a parent, I immediately felt another profound loss of another child, Mike. The murder of Mike Brown Jr. felt as intimate, as close, and as violating as that of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Aiyanna Jones, and the many others taken by state-sanctioned violence before August 9.
Our work continues as we navigate the rapidly growing rise and threat of fascism, a complex electoral landscape, an ever-worsening climate crisis, and the continued murder of Black people by the police, such as the killing of Sonya Massey
It was all overwhelming. It was clear that, as a people, we had lost too much. In our time of deepest need, the state responded by further declaring war against its people with tanks, tear gas, and militarized occupation. We were outraged. We knew that we had to take action; we didn’t know what to do, but we knew we needed to be there with those brave freedom fighters in Ferguson. A few comrades and I left the U.N. CERD meeting and headed straight to Ferguson.
Upon arriving in Ferguson, we learned about Mike through the memories his people shared of him. He was beloved by the community, and more than that, he represented so many of us, and we all shared so many similarities with him—Mike’s life was not abstract; it was real, tangible, and familiar. Mike Brown Jr. looked like many in our families and neighborhoods. Mike Brown Jr. looked like my nephew and other young men in my own life. It is a psychological terror when faces and bodies so much like your own are hunted down and killed. We still grieve and mourn Mike, and his memory continues to fuel our fight for power and liberation.
As revolutionaries, our role is not only to grieve and mourn but to honor our people—present, past, and those who will come after us—by acting to create the society we deserve. For months, Mike Brown Jr. was honored through the sustained action and rebellion in the streets of Ferguson and actions around the globe. Uttering his name invited millions to say the names of Black people killed by police, and that reverberation ignited a new conversation about racialized violence. Each day, each hour, there was resistance against police murders and state-sanctioned violence and an assertion that Black people deserve to live without the fear and threat of police terror. The days were consumed with marches, rallies, escalations, and time in community, and the nights were long and filled with strategy meetings, event prep, and far less rest than our bodies needed. But even when those protests ended, the work did not. Mike Brown Jr. and the Ferguson Uprisings woke something up in us, inspiring a new era of the Black liberation movement that has sustained for a decade and counting. Our lives, my life, changed forever.
At the Movement 4 Black Lives (M4BL), we are fighting for a fundamentally different world, one where he and all of us would be safe, protected, and given the best conditions to thrive and determine our own outcomes.
Since the Ferguson Rebellion, M4BL has remained committed to advancing abolition, anti-capitalism, and Black Queer Feminism. We organize and advance our vision in local communities and nationally. Our strategies range from advancing policy and electoral shifts to building our own institutions and alternatives to oppressive systems. We are proud of the organizing of our member organizations in Ferguson and St. Louis, who have been vital in the resistance and power building, such as Action St. Louis and the Organization for Black Struggle.
In our 10 years of building social movement power within Black communities, we are proud of our interventions to create policy and legislative change through the Vision 4 Black Lives, Breathe Act, and People’s Response Act that all emphasize divesting from the carceral state and instead investing in alternatives that support and nourish Black lives and communities. We are excited to report about the dozens of campaigns that have won and advanced local wins, ranging from removing police officers from schools to creating housing, changing educational policies, creating safety pods and alternatives to policing, advancing reproductive justice, and engaging communities in environmental and climate change preparedness.
Our work continues as we navigate the rapidly growing rise and threat of fascism, a complex electoral landscape, an ever-worsening climate crisis, and the continued murder of Black people by the police, such as the killing of Sonya Massey. We are clear about our need to build more power to position ourselves to create the world we need and deserve. Now and forever, we honor Mike Brown Jr. in our organizing work and all those who have been taken from us. Today, as the nation reflects on how Ferguson changed the world, I’m asking that you think about what we have to do in the next 10 years to ensure that we’re moving closer to a world where uprisings like the one that rattled the foundation of our nation aren’t necessary. We are still feeling the impact of what happened 10 years ago across all aspects of society: culturally, politically, socially, and economically. And we are less than 80 days away from a presidential election where the freedom to engage in our democracy is literally on the ballot.
We know that much of what is being promised in Project 2025 is a direct response to the transformational change that came out of the Ferguson Uprising. So, I’m asking that you keep that front of mind as you consider the change you want to see in the next four years. I’m asking that you don’t overlook the communities in Ferguson who never asked for their city to be thrust into the spotlight but acted quickly to demand change and accountability from their local police and from the system of policing at large. Please remember Mike’s family, loved ones, and the organizers on the ground who carry on liberatory work in ways that can only be described as revolutionary and rooted in a deep love for their people. Today, consider your personal responsibility in changing our world over the next 10 years.
We began seeding M4BL during the Uprising because we knew there were necessary things we could do together that we could not do apart. And we still believe that. Join us in building people's power to make liberation more than a freedom dream; let’s make it a reality.
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Nearly Two-Thirds of All Campaign Funds for Cori Bush Challenger Came From AIPAC
"Wesley Bell is now the No. 1 recipient of AIPAC cash this cycle—receiving $3 million and counting," Justice Democrats noted.
Jul 30, 2024
Almost two-thirds of all campaign donations to St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell—who is seeking to oust Congresswoman Cori Bush in next week's Democratic primary for Missouri's 1st Congressional District—came from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's super PAC, according to reporting on Tuesday.
Sludgereported that Bell enjoys a 5:1 cash-on-hand advantage over Bush, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Overall, Bell's campaign raised $4.8 million while Bush's took in $2.9 million as of July 17 in what AdImpacts Politics says is already the fifth-most expensive House primary race in U.S. history.
The most expensive House primary took place earlier this year, when AIPAC's super PAC, United Democracy Project (UDP), spent $14.5 million on Westchester County, New York Executive George Latimer's successful bid to unseat Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.).
Like Bowman, Bush has been a vocal critic of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 140,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case. Bush co-led a House cease-fire resolution introduced less than two weeks after Israel began bombarding Gaza. She has accused Israel of genocide.
Bell, meanwhile, has vowed to "fight to make sure the United States remains Israel's strongest ally."
UDP has spent heavily against candidates critical of Israel, and Bell is now the top recipient of AIPAC money this election cycle. St. Louis
NBC affiliate KSDKreported Monday that UDP and other pro-Israel PACs have spent $7.6 million boosting Bell.
Bell launched his primary bid in October after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that left more than 1,100 Israelis and others dead and around 240 people kidnapped. At the time, he was already running for Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley's seat. His House bid came despite a promise to Bush that he would not run against her. On Tuesday, Drop Site's Ryan Grim published an audio recording of Bell's promise.
According to Drop Site, AIPAC recruited Bell from a list of Black politicians with a chance of unseating Bush. AIPAC called this assertion "false and absurd."
Bell portrays himself as a progressive. However, he formerly managed the 2006 House campaign of Republican Mark Byrne, an anti-abortion and gun control candidate. More recently, he reneged on a promise to the family of Michael Brown—the 18-year-old who was fatally shot by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson—to pursue justice in the case by declining to criminally charge Wilson. Bell has also overseen a steady increase in the St. Louis County Jail's population at a time when the overall U.S. prison and jail population declined.
Bell's campaign is funded by Republicans including billionaire hedge fund founder and prolific GOP donor Daniel Loeb, billionaire tech CEO David Steward, and former Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley. An analysis published last month by Politicorevealed that 46% of donors who have given to Democratic candidates via AIPAC this election cycle have also funded Republicans since the 2020 cycle.
Such support doesn't always buy results, as Congresswoman Summer Lee (D-Pa.) showed when she defeated her Democratic primary opponent Bhavini Patel, who took money from Republican megadonors including billionaire businessman Jeffrey Yass. UDP spent $5 million trying—and failing—to unseat Lee, who crushed Patel by over 20 percentage points in the April primary.
AIPAC's largesse has sparked a #RejectAIPAC campaign urging Democrats to refuse to take money from the group.
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'More of This!' Merkley Leads Senate Demand for Separate Vote on Manchin Deal
"Thank you to these senators for their solidarity with frontline communities against more fossil fuel pollution!" said one activist.
Oct 12, 2022
Environmental justice campaigners on Thursday welcomed a letter from eight senators demanding separate votes on a government funding resolution and Sen. Joe Manchin's fossil fuel-friendly federal permitting bill.
The letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—who made a backroom deal with Manchin (D-W.Va.) on permitting reform to pass the Inflation Reduction Act—echoed a message that dozens of Democrats sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week.
The new call, spearheaded by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), came a day after Manchin unveiled the full text of his Energy Independence and Security Act, which would restrict frontline communities' input on fossil fuel projects and endorse the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). According to the People vs. Fossils coalition:
"We need more of this! Thank you to everyone who has signed below!"
Adrien Salazar of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance similarly said, "Thank you to these senators for their solidarity with frontline communities against more fossil fuel pollution!"
"Such important issues should be examined through detailed committee consideration and a robust floor debate separate from the urgent need to see that the government stays open."
The other signatories are Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Another woman in the area was being treated
"I fight for environmental justice, not fast-tracking fossil fuels," Markey said Thursday. "Don't make us choose between keeping the government open and keeping communities' rights."
Earlier this week, nearly 80 organizations had pressured Booker, Duckworth, and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.)—the founding members of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus—to reject Manchin's "pernicious" bill.
Some of the senators' constituents on Thursday thanked them for signing on to Merkley's letter while residents of other states called on their elected officials to join the fight against the "dirty deal."
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