On August 9, 2014– ten years ago this week– while walking down the street with his friend, 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. was murdered by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. He was shot six times with his hands in the air. And then Black organizers in Ferguson and St. Louis led the world in a mass uprising for racial justice.
The day after he was killed, a Black, working class single mom from St. Louis named Cori Bush hit the streets to support the protests. “I’m a nurse, so I could be a medic. I’m clergy so I can pray with people,” she said. Bush became a leader of the 400 days of sustained protest. And then in 2020, she took the fight from Ferguson to Washington as the first Black Lives Matter activist elected to Congress.
Our movements for racial justice owe so much to Cori Bush and her community in Ferguson. Tomorrow, she is facing down a historic amount of racist, MAGA-aligned money in her Democratic primary.
Hundreds of SURJ members have already been making calls and knocking doors on the ground in St. Louis for Cori. We’re running phone banks tonight and throughout the day tomorrow to protect this racial justice champion. To honor the important anniversary this week, will you join us?
Like some of you, I found SURJ as my political home in the midst of the Ferguson uprisings. I remember watching as the movement in Ferguson became a spark that moved millions to action and changed the conversation about police brutality.
It was a massive moment for white people waking up to the racial injustices people of color face every day. SURJ saw enormous growth in that moment– new chapters were founded and thousands of newly-activated white people came into our organization.
So many of us can trace our commitments to racial justice back to Ferguson, both as individuals but also as a movement. As we face down the challenges of this year, this week is a time to reflect on how far we’ve come in the last ten years, and then show up for Ferguson and Cori Bush.
Can you join us on a phone bank for Cori to mark this anniversary?
