On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
The Ferguson unrest was a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by FPD officer Darren Wilson. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and Black Americans, the militarization of police, and the use-of-force law in Missouri and nationwide. Continuing activism expanded the issues by including modern-day debtors prisons, for-profit policing, and school segregation.
Hands Up United is a social justice activist organization based in Ferguson, Missouri, formed after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer. The organization seeks justice in the Michael Brown case and prevention of future incidents nationwide as well as more accountability for police and improving transparency in police and justice departments across the United States. It also offers web technology training workshops to address issues related to the digital divide and economic equality.
Ferguson Action was an organized social movement that uses protests and resistance to oppose police violence in the United States. The movement became notable after organizing protests that gained national attention following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. In October 2014, the movement organized a four-day event, called the Weekend of Resistance, in which more than 1000 protestors from across the United States marched in downtown St. Louis.
"Hands up, don't shoot", sometimes shortened to "hands up", is a slogan and gesture that originated after the August 9, 2014, police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and then adopted at protests against police brutality elsewhere in the United States. The slogan implies one has their hands in the air, a common sign of submission, and is therefore not a threat to an approaching police officer. Witness reports from the Brown shooting are conflicted as to what Brown was doing with his hands when he was shot. One witness claimed Brown had his hands in the air before being killed, which was the basis for the slogan.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people, and promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. It started following the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. The movement and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes considered to be related to black liberation. While there are specific organizations that label themselves simply as "Black Lives Matter," such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network, the overall movement is a decentralized network of people and organizations with no formal hierarchy. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself remains untrademarked by any group. Despite being characterized by some as a violent movement, the overwhelming majority of its public demonstrations have been peaceful.
In the wake of civil unrest and protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Professor Marcia Chatelain of Georgetown University created the #FergusonSyllabus Twitter campaign. Ferguson syllabus provides a space for educators to discuss integrating the events that happened in Ferguson into classrooms.
DeRay Mckesson is an American civil rights activist, podcaster, and former school administrator. An early supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, he has been active in the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland and on social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram. He has also written for HuffPost and The Guardian. Along with Johnetta Elzie, Brittany Packnett, and Samuel Sinyangwe, Mckesson launched Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence. He is currently part of Crooked Media and hosts Pod Save the People.
Johnetta "Netta" Elzie is an American civil rights activist. She is one of the leaders in the activist group We The Protesters and co-edits the Ferguson protest newsletter This Is the Movement with fellow activist DeRay Mckesson.
Campaign Zero is an American police reform campaign launched on August 21, 2015. The plan consists of ten proposals, all of which are aimed at reducing police violence. The campaign's planning team includes Brittany Packnett, Samuel Sinyangwe, DeRay Mckesson, and Johnetta Elzie. The activists who produced the proposals did so in response to critics who asked them to make specific policy proposals. Subsequent critics of Campaign Zero and of their 8 Can't Wait project point out that some of the policies it recommends are already in place as best practice policies at many police departments. Some of these include the Milwaukee policing survey and the PRIDE act. However, a 2016 study by Campaign Zero found that only three of the eight policy recommendations were adopted by the average police department and that no law enforcement agency had adopted all eight.
Brittany Ferrell is a Black civil rights activist, mother, organizer, and freedom fighter from St. Louis, Missouri. Ferrell co-founded Millennial Activists United, a Black and queer women-led organization that facilitated intentional civic engagement and strategic political action around Ferguson, Missouri. Ferrell co-founded Millennial Activists United in light of the killing of Michael Brown, hoping to motivate youths to take a stand against racism and racial injustice. Millennial Activists United was founded in regards to the disproportionate number of women and LGBTQ individuals in leadership positions. Ferrell participates in rallies, attends city council meetings and uses social media to spread awareness. Ferrell earned her Bachelors in Science of Nursing from University of Missouri–St. Louis and is a high-risk obstetric nurse.
Kareem Jackson, known by his stage name Tef Poe, is an American rapper, musician and activist.
Samuel Sinyangwe is an American policy analyst and racial justice activist. Sinyangwe is a member of the Movement for Black Lives, the founder of Mapping Police Violence, a database of police killings in the United States and the Police Scorecard, a website with data on police use of force and accountability metrics on US police and sheriff's departments. Sinyangwe is also a co-founder of We the Protestors, a group of digital tools that include Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence and a co-host of the Pod Save the People podcast, where he discusses the week's news with a panel of other activists.
Darren Seals was an American racial justice, anti-police brutality, and anti-gun violence activist from Ferguson, Missouri who worked on the assembly line at General Motors. In September 2016, he was found shot dead in a burning car. St. Louis County Police are investigating his death as a homicide; they have not publicly identified suspects or motives.
Millennial Activists United (MAU) is social justice organization in the U.S., based in Ferguson Missouri. The group works to end racism as well as police brutality in the United States.
Marisa Franco is a Latino rights advocate and community organizer. Her activities have centered around Arizona, where she was born, as well as New York and California.
S. Lee Merritt is an American civil rights lawyer and activist, most known for his work on racial justice issues.
On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia. Three white men, who later claimed to police that they assumed he was a burglar, pursued Arbery in their trucks for several minutes, using the vehicles to block his path as he tried to run away. Two of the men, Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, were armed in one vehicle. Their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, was in another vehicle. After overtaking Arbery, Travis McMichael exited his truck, pointing his weapon at Arbery. Arbery approached McMichael and a physical altercation ensued, resulting in McMichael fatally shooting Arbery. Bryan recorded this confrontation and Arbery's murder on his cell phone.
Running while Black is a sardonic description of racial profiling experienced by Black runners in the United States and Canada. In the United States, jogging gained popularity after World War II, and has largely been portrayed by American media as an activity typically engaged in by White people; joggers of color are treated with suspicion. Black runners report taking precautions such as wearing bright colors to appear non-threatening, avoiding running outside of daylight hours, running in groups for safety, and avoiding running fast enough to appear to be "running away from something."
Cori Anika Bush is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist serving as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 1st congressional district, since 2021. The district includes all of the city of St. Louis and most of northern St. Louis County.
