‘Things will never be the same’: the oral history of a new civil rights movement

Source: The Guardian Unlimited

One year ago, the world turned to Ferguson. From mourning emerged a coalition of activists proclaiming that black lives matter and fighting for life and love. The Guardian spoke to 18 leaders about what has changed and what has not … yet

Saturday 9 August 2014: ‘Oh my God, they left him in the street’

PATRICIA BYNES, Democratic committeewoman of Ferguson Township: At first I did not even know his name. It was actually the committee woman of the seventh ward that sent me a text that day. I was out running errands, on my way to the barbershop. And she said, “Tricia, what’s going on in your city?” And I said, “What are you talking about? Which city?” And she said: “In Ferguson.”

PASTOR STARSKY WILSON of Saint John’s Church in St Louis: I saw it on Facebook and then began to look on Twitter and confirm with one of my church members what happened, and just saw it kind of evolving over the afternoon. My first response had to do with how we take care of our young men – I’ve got three sons, and my church has a lot of young boys in it.

So I thought: What is the word for this kind of day? Was a young man being shot dead in the middle of the street, and lying in the street?

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