Ferguson Syllabus

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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. [1]

Contents

Background

On August 9, 2014 an unarmed and noncompliant black teenager, Michael Brown, was fatally shot by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The disputed details of Brown's death sparked protests and civil unrest in Ferguson, across the United States, and internationally. [2] The dispute arose from dueling narratives of why and how the altercation occurred. Wilson and eyewitnesses presented different accounts of what happened. [3] This confusion, along with aggressive policing following Brown's death, led to heated debate and examination of the relationship between policing practices and communities of color. The protests and civil unrest continued on November 24, 2014 after a St. Louis grand jury failed to indict Wilson on criminal charges. [4] After the verdict was announced, protests flared in Ferguson and in nearly every major U.S. city. On November 29, 2014, Wilson resigned from the Ferguson Police Department with no severance or benefits. [5] Over $500,000 was raised by Wilson's supporters via crowdfunding. [6]

On March 4, 2015 the United States Department of Justice announced the findings of its two civil rights investigations into the Ferguson Police Department. The Justice Department found that the Ferguson Police Department "engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments of the Constitution". [7] In Ferguson—a city with a population of 21,000–16,000 people have outstanding arrest warrants, meaning that they are currently actively wanted by the police. [8] The Justice Department also stated, "That the evidence examined in its independent, federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Michael Brown does not support federal civil rights charges against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson." [9]

Purpose

Ferguson syllabus is a crowdsourced syllabus about race, African-American history, civil rights, and policing. [10] It was created as a way to integrate conversations of what happened in Ferguson into classrooms. Marcia Chatelain, an assistant professor of history at Georgetown University, created the hashtag #fergusonsyllabus so that educators could have a platform to discuss the national crisis in Ferguson, Missouri. [11] Chatelain describes it as, “What emerged was a small call for community across the sometimes impersonal and expansive digital world.” [12]

Chatelain contacted her colleagues in her discipline to use Twitter as a mechanism to recommend texts, collaborate on conversation starters, and inspire dialogue about some aspect of the Ferguson events. Chatelain argues, “The academy has never owned movements, and youth outside of colleges longed for intelligent questions, honest reflection, and inspiration moving forward." [12] College professors, high school and middle school teachers, early education specialists, and guidance counselors wanted ideas on how to hold purposeful dialogues around this issue. #FergusonSyllabus has now become a virtual movement used to frame how struggle has shaped American history, infused works of art and literature, and given voice to those most hurt by the failures of leadership, capitalism, and democracy.

Applications

Freedom Ferguson Library

Freedom Ferguson Library is a campaign asking people who benefited from learning from the Ferguson syllabus to consider donating an item to an under-resourced school, prison literacy program, or community center. Chatelain has asked that people write (or make a nameplate) with a message including the words, Ferguson Freedom Library. The expression Freedom Library comes from the Freedom Summer Project of 1964, when civil rights activists created Freedom Schools to educate children and adults. [1]

Ferguson Theater Syllabus

Inspired by the #FergusonSyllabus, actors and playwrights crowdsourced a list from the Ferguson Moment Facebook group, asking specifically for plays that provide opportunities for conversation around this particular historical moment: the shooting of Michael Brown and the response to that shooting by citizens, law enforcement and the justice system, in Ferguson and in other places like it around the nation. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Ferguson, Missouri City in Missouri, United States

Ferguson is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Per the 2020 census, the population was 18,527.

Ferguson Police Department (Missouri) Law enforcement agency of the city of Ferguson, Missouri, United States

The Ferguson Missouri Police Department (FPD) is a law enforcement agency serving Ferguson, Missouri. Since July 14, 2021, the Current Chief of Police has been Frank McCall since Former Chief Jason Armstrong resigned.

Shooting of Michael Brown 2014 fatal police shooting of a black man

Police Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown Jr. on August 9, 2014, while Wilson was on duty in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

Ferguson unrest Aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri

The Ferguson riot in Ferguson, Missouri, involved protests and riots which began on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and African 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.

Use-of-force law in Missouri refers to the law & legal doctrine which determine whether a member of law enforcement in the state of Missouri is justified in the amount of force used to gain control of an unruly situation or person, including situations involving death. In the United States, doctrine about use of force is primarily defined by the individual states, although there have been some Supreme Court decisions of limited scope.

Hands up, dont shoot Slogan and gesture

"Hands up, don't shoot", sometimes shortened to "hands up", is a slogan and gesture that originated after the August 9, 2014, shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, 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. Some witnesses claimed Brown had his hands in the air before being killed, although investigations later found that physical and forensic evidence contradicted witnesses who had claimed that Brown had his hands up when a police officer shot him. The slogan was adopted at protests against police brutality in the U.S.A. United States Department of Justice investigation claimed that the 'hands up' claim was inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence.

Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan and social justice activist organization based in St. Louis, Missouri focused on improving economic equality for citizens of Missouri. The organization partners with a number of activist networks in the United States including New Economy Coalition, Rising Tide North America, and others.

The shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes occurred on February 10, 2015, in Pasco, Washington, United States. Zambrano, a 35-year-old man originally from Michoacán, Mexico, was shot and killed by three police officers after allegedly throwing rocks at cars and police officers. His hands were in the air when the police fired the shots. Police officers said one of the rocks was as large as a softball. A toxicology report conducted by police found Zambrano's blood tested positive for methamphetamine.

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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.

The Ferguson effect is a hypothesized increase in violent crime rates in a community caused by reduced proactive policing due to the community's distrust and hostility towards police. The Ferguson effect was first proposed after police saw an increase in violence following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The term was coined by Doyle Sam Dotson III, the chief of the St. Louis police, to account for an increased murder rate in some U.S. cities following the Ferguson unrest. Whether the Ferguson effect really exists is subject of discussions with many published studies reporting contradicting findings concerning whether there is a change in crime rates, number of 911 calls, homicides, and proactive policing. Furthermore, the effect and influence of the portrayal of police brutality in the media is also contested.

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.

The 2014 Oakland riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that took place in Oakland, California and surrounding areas in November and December 2014. On November 24, 2014, following the decision of a Grand Jury in St. Louis to not charge Darren Wilson in the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown, protests and rioting broke out in Oakland and later spread to other Bay Area cities. For more than two weeks, the Bay Area was the site of civil unrest as protesters clashed with police and damaged public and private property.

Anthony Lamar Smith was a 24-year-old African American man from St. Louis, Missouri, who was shot and killed by then St. Louis Police officer Jason Stockley following a car chase on December 20, 2011. On September 15, 2017, Stockley was found not guilty of first-degree murder, and protests erupted in St. Louis.

<i>Stranger Fruit</i> (film) 2017 American film

Stranger Fruit is a 2017 American documentary film about the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer. The film showed previously unpublished surveillance video that director Jason Pollock alleges was concealed from jury members and the public in order to tarnish Brown's image.

Anti-police sentiment Attitude and stance against police officers

Anti-police sentiment refers to a social group or individual's attitude and stance against the policing system.

Marcia Chatelain American historian

Marcia Chatelain is an American academic who serves as a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. In 2021, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History for her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, which also won a James Beard Award.

References

  1. 1 2 "The #Ferguson Syllabus". college.georgetown.edu. 2014-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ "Documents Released in the Ferguson Case". The New York Times. 2014-11-25. ISSN   0362-4331.
  3. ↑ CNN Staff (2014-08-19). "Dueling narratives in Michael Brown shooting". CNN.
  4. ↑ Davey, Monica; Bosman, Julie (2014-11-24). "Protests Flare After Ferguson Police Officer Is Not Indicted". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331.
  5. ↑ "Missouri officer in fatal shooting resigned without severance: mayor". Reuters. 2014-12-01.
  6. ↑ Brown, Carolyn M. (2014-09-05). "Over $500,000 In Crowdfunding Raised For Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson". Black Enterprise.
  7. ↑ "Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department" (PDF). US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. 2015-03-04.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Nathan (2015-03-13). "The Shocking Finding From the DOJ's Ferguson Report That Nobody Has Noticed". Huffington Post.
  9. ↑ "Justice Department Announces Findings of Two Civil Rights Investigations in Ferguson, Missouri". US Department of Justice. 2015-03-04.
  10. ↑ Chatelain, Marcia (2014-08-25). "How to Teach Kids About What's Happening in Ferguson". The Atlantic.
  11. ↑ "Faculty - Marcia Chatelain". Georgetown University.
  12. 1 2 Chatelain, Marcia (2014-11-28). "Teaching the #FergusonSyllabus | Dissent Magazine". Dissent Magazine.
  13. ↑ Alick, Claudia; Sandberg-Zakian, Megan (2014-12-17). "The Ferguson Theatre Syllabus". American Theatre.
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