(NNPA)—“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am haunted by the words spoken by Lesley McSpadden immediately following the shooting death of her son, Michael Brown, at the hands of Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson almost a month ago. She said, “Do you know how hard it was for me to get him to stay in school and graduate? You know how many Black men graduate? Not many. Because you bring them down to this type of level, where they feel like they don’t got nothing to live for anyway.”
Lesley McSpadden’s words reflect more than her own deep anguish. They have been echoed by many of Ferguson’s citizens and civic leaders who have rallied for justice since Brown’s killing. They also expose the pervasive problems of joblessness and hopelessness fueling so much of the anger and tension in communities of color across America.
Michael Brown’s death was the spark that ignited a long-smoldering fire in Ferguson; and while the immediate goal of the National Urban League and our affiliate network is the arrest and indictment of Officer Darren Wilson, this column represents the first in a three-part series that aims to examine some of the root causes and identify solutions that must be implemented to avoid crises similar to Ferguson in the future.
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