Mike Brown's Murder

The picture below is graphic, and it's real.  It's a picture of Mike Brown, the 18-year-old kid who was apparently unarmed and killed by a Ferguson, MO, police officer on Saturday.  My mom and dad were in town visiting and Dad and I were watching the tv when the story broke.  I remember saying a couple times, "This is not good.  Oh man, oh man."  

So since that evening, I've been pretty caught up in the events of Ferguson.  I stayed up late the night of the riots and looting.  I've been following the latest events on twitter (I learned that when it comes to MAJOR world events that if you want the latest information you need to be on twitter.  I learned that as I followed a guy named SandMonkey during the protest and transformatoin of Egypt at Tarhir Square).  And like that event, I'd learn about things happening before news updates and so forth.  

I'm honestly not sure why I'm so drawn in.  I remember being drawn in when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebald shot up Columbine High School, The 9/11 attacks, and now this.  Although I'm not sure how this will all turn out, I thought I'd share how it has impacted me.  

  

First, the reality is, I have an African son.  One who I have talked to about race from many different angles over the past few years, but certainly as a result of this.  It pains me to think that Gideon could very well be pulled over, harassed, and messed with merely because he's black.  It pains me to think that those who Gideon has been taught to respect and honor could one day target him just because of his skin color.  So it has gripped me in the sense that that could very well be my son one day lying on the street, bleeding out while those who are charged with serving and protecting just stand there and let him die (the police left Mike Brown like that for 4 hours, and his body wasn't taken away in an ambulance, but a police SUV), as he and a buddy come walking home from getting Slurpies at 711.  So that has gripped me.  

It has also gripped me in that Monday night I volunteered to go to Panera to pick up bread for the seminary (back story:  Panera donates all of its bread at the end of the day to needy groups.  Apparently Covenant is one of those groups.  So once a week, volunteered bread-toters go to the St Louis Galleria Mall to get bread, and another day of the week to another location for bread).  So this was supposed to be my first night going to get the bread.  As I'm studyig for the Bible Content Overview test, I thought I'd leave right after supper and head to the Panera and study, and then get the bread right at closing.  So at supper I received a notification on my phone that the Galleria was being shut down by police due to unrest inside the mall.  Being pretty sure that's where I was headed, but knowing that the Galleria is about 10 or 15 miles from where the riots and looting were happening, I headed downstairs to check with Jody to make sure I was right, which I was.  

As it turned out, there was some sort of brawl inside the mall, where 40 people (mostly teens) were involved.  Although I'm still not sure if that event is connected, it gripped me.  I could have very well been at the mall when this took place (or more than likely, had I not gotten alerted by my phone, I would have potentially walked into a trouble spot).  The Galleria is between the seminary and where we go to church.  We also drive by the Galleria just about whenever we go east on I-64, which is very often as of late.  

Another instance is that parking lot, which is right across the street from the County Government building.  In St Louis, in order to get your vehicle registered, you have to have a mechanic do a safety test and an emission test (every two years).  Also, the amount you pay for the registration is based on the vehicles worth and the tax in the municipality in which you live.  So, since we just moved here, I had to go to the Government Building with some documentation to get a tax waiver release so I could get the van registered.  When I went inside the building, I parked in this lot (that didn't have those barracades up at that point).  The next day, the location in the building I was in (right off the street) had SWAT team members with tear gas, etc, etc, and that parking lot was full of protesters.  

And the last one was after taking Kathee to Sump, which is supposed to be the best coffee place in St Louis.  I had researched a bit, and had saved this one for one of those days.  So when Kathee was feeling a bit off, we loaded up and went to South City (which is south of the Arch and is also where the Soulard Market is).  After getting our cups of coffee and going home, everything was great.  

The next day I woke up and saw on the news that 4 car loads of people had looted a shoe store a mile from Sump.  So it's just been those little things that have gripped me and continue to draw me in.  

I continue to try and process theologically, biblically, and personally.  Race in America is such a weird thing.  And so I continue to process, learn, think, and observe.