Ferguson Rises (2021)

[bunniefuu]

[pleasant piano music] [birds chirping]

[basketball bouncing] [players chatting]

[children laughing] [pleasant piano music]

[food sizzling] [people chatting]

[pleasant piano music] [children chatting]

[p*stol firing]

-Brag, ? -.

RADIO: Get us several more units over here.

There's gonna be a problem.

There is growing outrage tonight after an unarmed

African-American teenager was shot and k*lled

by police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri.

Coming home from football practice,

my first instinct was that's a big kid.

He looks like one of the kids that I coach,

so I start calling around just to see,

just thinking about is that one of my kids?

FEMALE REPORTER: St. Louis County Police are not

giving details of what happened

moments before Brown was k*lled.

When we say, "That could have been my child,"

that was my first ask, is he mine,

and where are my children?

MALE REPORTER: The officer encountered Brown

and another man on the street in an apartment complex.

We were walking down the street, an empty street.

We were just walking down, minding our own business.

We're both headed home, and the officer is approaching us,

and as he pulled up on the side of us,

he said, "Get the F on the sidewalk."

[shutter clicking]

The officer's arm extended out the window,

grabbed my friend around the neck.

He started to pull my friend into the window.

Why he felt the need to stop and address him

from the driver's seat of a vehicle,

it's bad training, it's bad tactics,

it's bad a lot of things.

Within the police car,

there was a struggle over the officer's weapon.

[shutter clicking]

My understanding was the officer was attacked

in the car, and defended himself.

He never once attempted to grab for this officer's weapon.

He's still holding my friend with one arm.

He says, "I'll sh**t."

It wasn't even a second later before the g*n just went off.

[p*stol firing]

JON: There was at least

one shot fired within the car.

Michael breaks away,

and he starts running away from the officer.

The officer gets out of his vehicle and pursues Michael

as he's sh**ting his weapon. [shutter clicking]

He fired another shot. It struck my friend in the back.

His hands immediately went in the air,

and he turned around towards the officer face-to-face.

He started to tell the officer that he was unarmed

and that you should stop sh**ting me.

Before he can get his second sentence out,

the officer fired several more shots

into his head and chest areas, and he fell dramatically.

It was just horrible to watch.

[Dorian sobbing] [melancholic music]

[plastic rustling]

Oh man.

I mean, they had it taped off.

It was just...

At first, they had my little cousin just laying there

uncovered, nothing on nothing.

Just out there like a public lynching.

That's what it was like.

[shutter clicking] People don't understand.

Sometimes police work can go from zero to

in regards to confrontation,

and it sounds like that's what happened there.

[shutter clicking]

I don't see how he was shot and k*lled

once the threat was gone. [shutter clicking]

At some point, I think things totally got out of control.

FEMALE REPORTER: Less than two hours

into the investigation, a crowd started to form,

so police called for backup from police departments.

I looked at the TV, and I saw somebody's child

that was laying in the middle of the street.

I was horrified especially when I heard a Ferguson officer

say to his mother that she needed to get herself together.

We have a problem here.

I heard Leslie McSpadden, Mike Brown's mom, say,

"You took my son from me," and I stopped and I looked

and I watched the rest of what she was saying,

and my heart just shattered.

FEMALE REPORTER: His mother, Leslie McSpadden,

says her son was a good kid looking forward

to going to Vatterott College next week.

He don't bother nobody.

My son just turned and graduated from high school,

and he don't bother nobody.

[melancholic piano music]

He was my son,

didn't cause no problems.

He was a leader. He knew what he wanted out of life.

He's a good kid.

[sprinkler hissing] [dog barking]

You're good? You're ready for today?

-I'm good. -All right.

Your hat in the way. [giggles]

I used to have bad dreams,

bad dreams of what had happened,

what he was thinking when he was

asking this guy to stop sh**ting him.

I guess that was the mind doing what it does

when it's up under attack, like trauma.

[car door slams]

You can tell yourself you're trying to heal,

but how do you heal off a senseless m*rder,

off a officer k*lling your son, gunning your son down

in the middle of the street?

How did you rewind that? How did you get that out your mind?

[melancholic music]

I was all the way around the corner

well actually back there that day

on that hill, the grassy hill.

I didn't actually think that it was him,

but when I looked in the street,

his hat that me and my wife had gotten married in,

his hat was in the street,

and one of his flip flops was in the street,

so it almost became real, but I still didn't accept it.

Definitely, I thought at least that detectives

would came and greeted the family

or try to find out who the family was

while this whole big thing was going on.

Even... it was two guys I went to Normandy with

I asked him, "Bruh, tell me something."

They turned their back on me.

It wasn't no one out here concerned about this guy

that's laying out here in -degree weather

melting to the ground.

So this is the area where he laid at

in the middle of the street, right here.

[solemn music]

I stayed the whole time until

he was actually picked up off the ground.

I don't know. I don't know what to tell you I was feeling.

I was confused, I was angry, I was in disbelief.

All emotions was going on at that time,

so it was real disturbing.

It became a reality that night when I seen the news,

and his face was on the TV.

[rising troubled music]

People are disputing.

Oh, he had his hands up, he didn't have his hands up,

he was charging, but what we do know is he had no weapon.

He could not possibly have been that much of a threat

that warranted lethal force.

He didn't have a history of going around

threatening or beating police officers.

I think Mike Brown, Jr. actually found himself

in a situation he's probably

very familiar with, unfortunately.

I also tend to believe that the officer probably

somewhere deep in the recesses and maybe even

the forefront of his mind believed that

he could take these actions,

he could pull the trigger without consequence

because he'd seen it happen so often.

FEMALE REPORTER: The majority of the jurors

favored acquittal.

WOMAN: These officers have a job to do,

and in doing that job, they have to be given

a certain amount of reasonable,

and that's what this is, reasonable force.

[p*stol firing] [horrified music]

People like him, my age,

they shouldn't be k*lled by police officers.

Police officers are meant to protect us.

That could have been me. [sighs]

I don't know if I will walk out the house

and not come back, and that's scary.

It make me feel sad because I don't know

if that's gonna be my son growing up one day.

Having to get shot down by the police for doing nothing,

for minding his own business.

You ain't got to worry about people on the street.

Now, you gotta worry about the people that you

supposed to be able to trust to come to your house

to help you, take you to the hospital, or anything.

You gotta worry about these people k*lling your kids.

The reality that this could be your child,

the reality that this is somebody's child,

the reality that this happens,

and it's here in your backyard,

it was type of grief that I think the only deeper place

to grieve would be if that had actually been my child.

If you wanna know why people are angry,

a young -year-old boy's body stayed out there

for / hours and cooked in the sun.

That's why people are mad as hell in Ferguson.

[words whooshing] [suspenseful music]

What made this different was that his body

was out in the street.

They brought dogs in before they brought

something to cover his body.

You only can push people for so long

until they get upset.

Before I'll be a sl*ve, I'm gonna be buried in my grave

and go home to my Lord and be free!

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!

MALE REPORTER: A Ferguson, Missouri community

is calling for action after a police officer reportedly

shot and k*lled an unarmed teen.

[people chatting and shouting]

[siren blaring]

They shouldn't have left his body

in the street for / hours.

It's the highest form of disrespect,

particularly for a people who,

for about years of their history,

could not bury their dead, could not have proper funerals,

could not ritualize them properly.

And so to leave him in the street

is an ancestral form of disrespect.

Put your lighters up for Mike Brown.

[protesters shouting] [cars honking]

[protesters chanting]

CROWD: The whole damn system is guilty as hell.

[people shouting]

These r*cist cops have got to go.

Hey hey, h* h* these r*cist cops have got to go.

Hey hey, h* h*.

OFFICER: You need to disperse immediately

or you will be subject to arrest.

Do it now. We tried to march

from the scene of the crime to the police station,

and we're stopped.

[grenades booming] MAN: Run!

This is a lot of young people reacting

to getting shot at with tear gas,

being met at with riot gear.

How else is these young kids gonna react, man?

We're being met aggressiveness.

[people shouting] [grenades booming]

We've asked them to move multiple times,

and we're trying to disperse the crowds out of the area.

The reason that tear gas has been deployed

on a couple of occasions is those crowds

are not dispersing,

and not only are they not dispersing,

they're throwing bottles, coins, rocks at the police.

[people shouting]

We don't got on nothing.

We walking with our hands and shouting,

"No justice, no peace," water bottles.

That's what they was throwing at 'em, water bottles.

So you mean to tell me you gonna sh**t tear gas

'cause a water bottle hit you?

It would have been peaceful if they would've

let us just march 'cause people would've got tired

and been like, okay, it's time to go.

[people shouting] [distressed music]

[ribbons flapping faintly]

[people chatting]

What is the status right now

of the demonstrations and the protests?

I understand there were arrests made overnight.

Has your force felt like it has the situation under control?

Do you think that we will see any more outbreaks

of the violence that we saw overnight?

Well, we can't have another night like last night,

so we hope it doesn't happen,

but we're prepared for the worst.

[helicopter blades whirring]

It took day or two, I think, before it seemed like

this was going to be a moment.

This was gonna be bigger than it looked.

Hands up, don't sh**t. [cars honking]

Hands up, don't sh**t.

I think there was this sense that this little community

that was run mostly by white people,

this was just another indication of the racism

that's going on in America.

There is not a racial divide in the city of Ferguson.

As we progressively become- According to who?

Is that your perspective, or do you believe that that

is a perspective of African-Americans

in your community?

That is the perspective of all residents

in our city, absolutely.

The tensions are high in this city.

They have always been high, but now, they're manifesting.

You don't see our anguish!

You don't see that we're f*cking dying!

You don't see that we're f*cking dying!

[people chatting]

SARAH: There are a lot of vacant houses

in Ferguson right now.

For us personally, we're not going anyplace.

We'll die here.

Well, that's a happy thought.

Well, but we will.

We're not gonna leave.

Mr. Kitty, you like the sun.

There are others who believe differently than we do

or who want to continue to be disrespectful.

I certainly don't lump all protesters together.

There are just some who wanna stir up the pot.

[bowl clanging]

I don't know how to say it

without sounding like we and them,

but the protesters were still

wanting to gripe about things, and

to me, it almost seems like they're...

Have tantrums.

[protesters shouting]

Oh, yeah, this is the happy side of Ferguson.

f*ck this side of town.

The protesters, they're always showing

the rage and the anger,

and that's not really where protest comes from.

I think that's something that many

of my white neighbors don't see.

They're seeing the anger and not realizing

that the commitment comes from the love.

[protesters chanting]

Some of the best church that I've ever been to

has been running down the streets.

We are creating a community.

We are designed to need each other.

If we didn't need each other, we would not even be here.

We need each other, and we need to need each other.

I've lived in St. Louis for about years.

I pastor an AME church. I am a mom.

I don't believe in just sitting around praying about stuff.

You get up and you do something.

I didn't know what it meant to be in the street protesting.

Just knew that that's where I needed to be

because as a mom, that's where I've always been,

been where the kids are,

and found my way to West Florissant

and parked my car by the Taco Bell and joined

the march that was going down the street and didn't leave.

I've kind of understood it as like

standing between heaven and hell.

It's a terrible, spiritual force.

The atmosphere of evil is so thick sometimes

that it weighs on you.

[foreboding music] [people chatting]

MALE REPORTER: There was more unrest

in the St. Louis suburb last night.

OFFICER: Go ahead and clear the streets.

MALE REPORTER: Once again, community frustration

quickly ignited the fuse of violence.

Young people threw rocks,

and police responded with rubber b*ll*ts and tear gas.

MALE REPORTER: The scene that photographers captured

looked like a police state.

I was studying as a scholar in residence

at Martin Luther King Papers at Stanford University.

Once Ferguson happened,

friends began to encourage me to go home,

and so I got on a plane and I flew back in time.

It looked like Watts.

The tanks, the tear gas, the rubber b*ll*ts looked familiar.

[grenades booming] [people shouting]

MALE REPORTER: Ferguson has seen riots and looting

following the police sh**ting of an unarmed

Black teenager over the weekend.

Well, you know Bill, they haven't made it through the night

without a clash in Ferguson.

Last night, a little bigger than other clashes

we have seen thus far.

OFFICER: You must disperse immediately.

This is no longer a peaceful protest

when you try to injure people.

OFFICER: If you are not credentialed media,

you need to disperse immediately.

[sirens blaring] [people shouting]

We're not waiting.

This is not , it's not '.

It's not even Selma ', '.

We're right in ', ', so you're looking at Watts,

Newark, Detroit kind of action where people are mad as hell.

[people shouting]

[horns honking] [people shouting]

The whole damn system is guilty as hell.

Interestingly, our little town of , became

a rallying point for racial relations

across the entire country.

CROWD: Hands up, don't sh**t!

Hands up, don't sh**t! Hands up, don't sh**t!

Hands up, don't sh**t!

[people chanting] [solemn music]

CROWD: The whole damn system is guilty as hell!

We hurt, we broken, and we ain't all criminals.

Just 'cause we look like this don't make us wrong.

We broken, we broken, we broken.

No one knew the aftermath

of what was gonna come out of it,

but everyone that went out there

puts their lives on the line.

Coming together united to make that change,

again, to one common enemy, the system.

Actually, one of the most powerful moments

happened two nights ago. [people shouting]

We're out on the street protesting,

and then there's g*nf*re. [p*stol firing]

And then of course, the police all come,

and they come in their riot gear and the tanks,

and there was this one young man.

He was like bad-a*s, right,

and he just plops down in the street,

and the police are like, "Get up, you gotta go.

"You gotta get out of the street!

"You gotta get out of the street," and he can't move,

and I've been in that space where you just can't move.

And I looked down at him, and he's crying.

Just so many tears. His face is filled with tears.

And he looks up at me, he says, "How long?"

I said how long?

"How long do you think we have to live?

"The streets don't get us, the police will.

"What's the purpose?"

I just sat down next to him because he needed

some space to cry and he needed to process

'cause he's grieving and he's scared and he's sad.

He looks at me, and he said,

"So why does God let this happen?"

Deep theological moment.

It's issues of theodicy.

Where's God and presence of evil?

More church happens in those streets

than ever happened in a building. [sighs heavily]

[words whooshing]

About a month ago,

I came to this QuikTrip 'cause I was maced,

and one of the employees, she told me to go get some milk

'cause that would help.

So I started pouring milk up in my eyes,

and then the officers came in there and they was telling me

if I splashed my face again then I'm gonna be arrested,

and I was trying to tell him that I couldn't see

'cause I had got maced,

and he was telling me to shut the F up and sit the F down.

He didn't care or whatever,

and I looked at his name tag and I told myself

that I was gonna remember who he was for what he did to me,

and this morning, I had woke up and I heard the news on.

They had released his name.

Today, the Ferguson police chief releasing the name

of the police officer involved in the sh**ting

after so much anger it was being withheld,

but new outrage erupted tonight

because police also released something else,

these surveillance images that they believe

that show Michael Brown, the sh**ting victim,

involved in a store robbery earlier that day.

MALE REPORTER: They're saying that Michael Brown

supposedly stole some cigars.

Michael Brown robbed a convenience store.

MALE REPORTER: That, they say, is the motivation

for why the police officer here stopped Michael Brown.

The events that took place on Canfield

had nothing to do with whatever grocery store

Michael may have been in or the person

who was on the video was in.

There's always a mythos, a narrative,

that is spun around or they were doing this.

It's like with Freddie Gray in Baltimore.

There's always some narrative about what the Black body did

that required it to be k*lled.

The aggression that he had in the store

with the store owner, that was very alarming.

That wasn't good behavior.

You can't deny that.

However, that one moment does not define someone.

Everything about this smells coverup.

MALE REPORTER: It took them nearly a week,

and the fighting over this incident

nearly tore this city in two,

[grenades booming]

but today, Ferguson City Police are finally sharing

that it was -year-old police officer Darren Wilson

who shot and k*lled this unarmed Black teenager

Saturday afternoon. Did Darren Wilson know

that Michael Brown had taken some cigars from the store?

My recollection is that Chief Jackson initially said that

Darren Wilson did not know.

FEMALE REPORTER: So the officer involved in the sh**ting,

was he aware of the robbery call?

I don't know.

I don't know what what came out in his interview.

I know his initial contact was not related to the robbery.

MALE REPORTER: Nothing to do with the stop?

So he had nothing to do with the stop.

MALE REPORTER: So why release the videos?

MALE REPORTER: At this point,

why did he stop Michael Brown?

Because they were walking down

the middle of the street blocking traffic.

That was it.

MALE REPORTER: You're saying, what are you saying, Chief?

Did he know that he was a suspect in a case,

-or did he not know? -No, he didn't.

Later, I don't know if it was days later or weeks later.

However, I think his comment was that he did know.

FEMALE REPORTER: A grand jury begins hearing evidence

in the case today to determine if white police officer

Darren Wilson should face criminal charges

in the k*lling.

-He threw the first punch? -Yes.

He threw the first one.

It hit me in the left side of my face.

'Cause you know some of the witnesses have said

that they saw you trying to pull him into the car.

That would be against every training ever taught

to any law enforcement officer.

He punched you. Did he land a punch?

Yes, he did through the window and just a solid punch

to the right side of my face.

And that's what caused that red redness

on the side of your face? Yes.

And the next thing was how do I survive

'cause I didn't know- How do I survive?

Yes, I didn't know if I'd be able

to withstand another hit like that, and when I felt it,

I just felt the immense power that he had.

The way I've described it as it was like

a five-year-old holding on to Hulk Hogan.

That's just how big this man was.

-Hulk Hogan? -He was very large.

Very powerful man.

Michael Brown, if you look at his height and his weight,

is comparable to Darren Wilson's height and weight,

so the way in which he describes Michael Brown

is very odd.

It's an exaggeration.

It's a lot of times law enforcement, we

will try to see the negative and try to

make someone into a villain.

That moment before the second shot,

you guys are staring at each other,

and you said there was a look in his eye

like somebody you'd never seen before.

You described it as a demon.

It was a very, very intense,

intense image he was presenting.

-Demon? -Very intense.

Darren Wilson's own words as he's explained what happened

show that there is a clear r*cist bias

present in his worldview.

And this is what happens when we dehumanize

African-American men to be nothing

but monsters, demons, anti-human,

and so how one six-foot-tall person can say

about another six-foot-tall person that I feel

like a five-year-old boy hanging on to this big monster

is unclear to me unless they're trying to persuade the jury

that Mike Brown was not a human.

I was expecting to see his face mangled,

and I hear what he's saying, that he was afraid

and this happened and that happened,

but I always go back to the beginning,

and the beginning is this.

You got an armed man and an unarmed man.

The unarmed man is shot six to seven times.

He unloaded many, many more b*ll*ts, why?

He doesn't even have a bruise.

And you're absolutely convinced when you look

through your heart and your mind

that if Michael Brown were white,

this would have gone down in exactly the same way?

-Yes. -No question?

No question.

And anyone who believes that part of you is motivated

by some kind of racial animus, some kind of racism,

-they're wrong? -They are wrong.

You can't perform the duties of a police officer

and have racism in you. [unsettling music]

[words whooshing]

[birds chirping] [melancholic music]

In Ferguson, Missouri today, the streets were clear,

no marches, no protests, as thousands gathered

in nearby St. Louis for the funeral of Michael Brown.

I feel really privileged to stand here

to talk about such a dynamic young man.

I met Mike-Mike three years ago,

and he truly became my best friend.

The day that Mike-Mike graduated,

we took him out to lunch,

and he said, "Cal, I feel like I got so much going

"inside of me, and I know that the world is someday

"gonna know my name."

He said, "I'm gonna shake the world,"

and I promise you that he has.

[people applauding]

Let us not lose sight of the fact that this young man

should be doing his second week in college.

[people applauding]

No community in America would tolerate an -year-old boy

laying in the street / hours,

and we're not gonna tolerate it either.

Whatever happened, devaluing this boy's life

must be answered by somebody. [people cheering]

[melancholic music]

CROWD: Hands up, don't sh**t! Hands up, don't sh**t!

Hands up, don't sh**t!

I'm a chief protester, but don't do it today.

Don't do it today.

Let's respect the family wishes, okay?

♪ Please is a word I shouldn't need ♪

♪ For you to understand, we just want to be free ♪

[melancholic music]

♪ Imagine how it feels ♪

♪ To have to plead something so obviously true ♪

♪ Forced to wage a w*r just to breathe ♪

♪ And it's spilled blood I don't wanna see ♪

♪ No, I don't wanna see Black boys dying in the street ♪

♪ Not living the lives they should lead ♪

♪ No, I don't wanna see another mother crying on her knees ♪

♪ From the unjust crimes of police ♪

♪ No, I don't wanna see the eyes of a young man ♪

♪ Cold from a life that won't provide him peace ♪

♪ No, what I wanna see is that young man's dreams come to be ♪

♪ And that young man looks just like me, please ♪

[melancholic music]

Losing a child is hard, so we have to do things

that build us back up to make us even more stronger men

than we were before.

[door creaking] [alarm beeping]

We lose a child or whatever.

They always go to the woman which is natural,

but the men need support and love, too.

We hurt, too. We hurt a different type of way.

Some of us hold it in, and sometimes,

we have to get that out before we explode.

[infant babbling]

You just trying to deal with it a certain way

that we think that's best, and it's not.

It's actually k*lling us inside,

so we have to get all that out in order to move forward.

Would you get her

and go in another room for me, please?

Everyone has seen this now.

Brings back a lot of memories.

Mike was, what, a day old?

Now, this is one of my newest pictures now.

This is a picture I really keep wrapped up.

I just been protecting it.

I don't want the glass get broke.

I don't want [laughs] the frame to get scratched,

none of that 'cause this picture here definitely

looks just like him when he was , years old.

He graduated out of summer school August st,

and he was k*lled August th.

It meant a lot 'cause I didn't graduate,

so it was almost like I graduated with him.

[melancholic music]

[child chatting]

GIRL: Well mama got you the plain fried rice.

CHILD: Plain fried rice?!

Well, his sisters, his siblings are still hurting.

He has a smaller sister, Nykia.

She walks around the house, talks to him,

have a conversation with him,

tell us that he's reading a book to her,

saying that he's on the phone on her play phone.

Just really strong energy on a spiritual tip with him,

so I have to take in the good from her to make it

more positive for me to be positive

for the other siblings.

[hopeful piano music]

[people chatting] [shoes crunching]

People send their kids out, the kids go places,

and their kids never come home because somebody

who was entrusted to serve and protect their kids

decided that they didn't want them

to be on this earth no more.

That hurts as a mother.

I go back to the seven-year-old girl

that I was working with in Canfield,

and we were just doing a simple activity.

We were making buttons, and she made a button,

unprompted on her own, that said I don't trust the police,

and I don't believe that all police officers are bad,

and I told her, I said, well you know,

I was like not all police officers are bad.

And she looked at me very earnestly and said,

"How will I know the difference?"

I don't want nobody to be mistreated.

I don't want nobody to be taken advantage of,

k*lled for no reason, but this is what we live in.

We live in hell.

When people were like I'm so surprised

that the racism is so high in St. Louis,

people that live here is like, yeah, that's the Lou for you.

It was the one of the last states to free sl*ves,

and that means a lot 'cause as like I said,

it's still reflected in everyday policy.

It's still reflected in certain communities.

It's still reflected in everyday life for individuals,

so you think you was coming up north to get free.

It really wasn't. You came up north and you stayed south.

We really are more Up-South than Midwest.

We really were one of those initial stops on that highway

coming up from Mississippi and the gulf,

and a lot of folks when they came here really engendered

a lot of Southern culture, and you still feel it tangibly.

We are in the state of Missouri which was

a sl*ve state during the Civil w*r.

This state has some very famous cases that come out of it.

The Dred Scott decision comes out of this state.

Shelly versus Kramer which dealt with

unfair housing practices where there were

restrictive covenants where people couldn't move

into certain neighborhoods.

We also have out of this state,

we have the McDonnell Douglas Case,

Green versus McDonnell Douglas,

the first case that talked about how employers

couldn't retaliate based on one's activism

based on political or social issues.

One real criticism that I grew up with was the idea

that St. Louis never really had a movement history.

St. Louis never really resisted,

like when other cities went up in flames

either due to Martin's death or with Malcolm's death

or any of the other uprisings in the city,

the thought was the St. Louis had no activity on the ground

and didn't participate.

Any of our kinda organizations, if you will,

many of 'em started during times when we were

a much more r*cist and sexist society,

some even starting in sl*very, and as a result,

we started practices and policies that perpetuate.

So policing was set up

so they would see and target Black folks.

They would often find folks and find ways

to ticket and harass them,

and even when those areas began to transition

to be majority and predominantly,

if not all Black,

those same behaviors tended to stay rooted there.

We have a thing called hotspot policing.

I look at that as nothing but stop-and-frisk.

Stop-and-frisk is the backbone of policing.

Every major arrest I've made usually

has been based on a stop-and-frisk.

When you have a program of stop-and-frisk where you're

actually counting how many suspicious people you see,

and you're being told by your department

that you need to make so many suspicious stops,

well, what happens is the police officers just stop

anyone walking down the street.

I believe a lot of those steps

are pretty much unconstitutional.

You can't even come down the street and walk to the store

without Ferguson Police Department bothering you,

pulling you over, "Why you walking?"

If the liquor store not open, you should not be out here,

especially if you are a Black person.

I'm a law enforcement officer.

I've been in Clayton shopping three times in my lifetime,

and I was pulled over two of those times.

It makes you angry.

There's a lot of tragedy in my family

'cause I had lost a lot of loved ones 'cause either

they was getting k*lled or they was going to jail

for a long, long time.

My father got k*lled when I was three.

My auntie and my cousin was m*rder*d like back in '.

It was like a double homicide.

I grew up pretty much was like cops was picking on me.

I became active as I was on house arrest,

but when I got off, I made the steps further,

but I needed that push because I was scared.

I was scared I might go back to jail

just for freedom of speech, but I felt that after

attending all these marches,

I realized I'mma go to jail or die regardless

if I don't stand up. [unsettling music]

MAN: The Department of Justice's report

on the Ferguson Police Department

was released Wednesday,

and it turns out to be even more damning

than the early leaks suggested.

The report describes everything

from harassment to excessive use of force

to the unfair targeting of African-Americans

just to help balance the city's budget.

Our review of the evidence found no,

no alternative explanation for the disproportionate impact

on African-American residents other than racial bias.

[unsettling music]

Today's report allows the city of Ferguson

to identify the problems, not only in our police department,

but in the entire St. Louis region.

The structure of these municipal court systems

where these small communities are dependent upon

these petty municipal fines totally incentivizes

the kind of racial profiling that's going on.

If you look at Ferguson, it had upwards of ,

outstanding arrest warrants for mostly

low-level, non-violent offenses.

That's a town of ,, and , arrest warrants issued.

/ of that community have active warrants.

The average household in Ferguson

has over three active warrants,

and these are for petty, minor offenses,

things like expired vehicle registration,

running a stop sign.

People have k*lled themselves in jail

like Kimberly Randall-King who got picked up

for a small fight and was thrown in jail

and had like nine traffic warrants and watched,

in a matter of hours, her whole life just being

decimated in front of her for traffic warrants,

and she k*lled herself in jail.

There's multiple stories of that.

When a police car actually pulls up in our rear view,

we get the same response as though if somebody

were actually pulling up to rob us.

I think the problem up in Ferguson was there was

so much animosity built over the years over writing

so many tickets that the public was very unforgiving

when something like this happens.

The worlds that white people, Black people live in

are extremely different, and white people, typically,

have very little recognition of the sort of day-to-day

systemic oppression that people of color

face in this country simply by walking out of their homes.

Hi, Officer Weigert. Hey.

You're gonna get a kick out of this.

They're sh**ting a documentary, so. [laughs]

I just retired.

I was a police officer for years

at the St. Louis City Police Department.

See, this is what people like.

This is what the businesses like when they know your name

and you come in here and chat with 'em.

It's just a familiarity.

Right, but they're threatening to shut my water.

We'll come back.

Yeah, you come back. Okay.

Sherry, we'll come back.

I have never had a problem with the police.

They've always been in the community.

They've always been at every festival, at every-

We have Sunday parkways where they close a couple of streets

and everybody gets to play in the street, go in the street.

It's really a lot of fun. They put up climbing walls.

I don't know.

I mean, I guess I always thought the police were fair,

but then let's face it, I'm white,

and with maybe the exception of a speeding ticket

a couple of times in my life,

I've really never had to encounter the police

as a law enforcement.

Nobody calls the police to get the cat out of that tree.

They're like the last resort.

They used to bring my dog home in their police car for me,

but because if animal control got 'em,

that's $ every time.

I didn't even know the police knew my dog,

and they'd come up to the door and say,

"Ms. Sansevere, we have Butter in the car." [laughs]

[dramatic music] [words whooshing]

We knew early on that this was gonna be going

to Bob McCulloch as the county prosecutor,

and because we already had a history with Bob McCulloch,

we expected exactly how he played this

and expected he was gonna do.

As the prosecutor out of St. Louis County

gathers the evidence to present to the grand jurors,

there are calls for him to recuse himself.

In , when McCulloch was just years of age,

his father, a police officer, was shot and k*lled

in a gunfight with a Black kidnapper.

MAN: Also in , he did not charge two officers

who shot and k*lled two unarmed African-American suspects,

and he referred to the two men k*lled as "bums."

I think everyone knew as the amount of information

that we saw coming through from even various neutral bodies

saying that Robert McCulloch was running

a very odd game and that nothing had even been put

before a grand jury in this way.

I never, ever heard of a prosecutor going to a grand jury

and saying, "Oh, golly gee, do whatever you like.

"Here's both sides of the story,

"and I'm not saying you should do one thing or the other,"

or I'm gonna let the guy who we're trying to charge,

who we're trying to indict, speak for hours and hours

-and hours unopposed. -No cross examination.

I mean, it is literally unheard of.

We all knew that it seemed so unlikely

that the indictment would be made,

and yet, they have a hope.

They have a determination.

They have a certainty that we will win.

[drums beating] [people chanting]

MALE REPORTER: US and local law enforcement officials

telling CNN that a decision by the grand jury

in the Darren Wilson case is expected

to be announced later today.

The emotions is all over the place.

My wife woke up earlier this morning, and she was crying,

but we're gonna make it.

We're gonna try to make it through.

[clippers buzzing]

Well, I definitely told Mike about the police

when he was younger 'cause he was always a big guy.

Well one day, he had a conversation with Cal and said

it was this guy that was bothering him.

He told me he was okay.

It wasn't nothing for me to worry about.

Didn't know that it was the same guy that k*lled him.

[melancholic music] [clippers buzzing]

But at the end of the day, that's the point that hurts

that it was a situation, and I probably,

I could've took control of it, but you know,

I didn't do my part on being his father.

FEMALE REPORTER: Whatever the grand jury decides,

indictment or no indictment,

remember this is about evidence,

not about who you might want to win.

MALE REPORTER: I mean, if he's not indicted for anything,

there probably will be a reaction, a serious reaction.

Let me repeat Michael's father's words.

"Hurting others or destroying property is not the answer.

"No matter what the grand jury decides,

"I do not want my son's death to be in vain."

I don't condone any violence or any looting,

but who knows what's gonna happen.

All this is happening, and charges haven't even been filed.

Can you imagine what'll happen

if something comes out not guilty?

I don't even wanna be here.

FEMALE REPORTER: My colleague Don Lemon is standing by

in Ferguson with some breaking news.

Joining me now is Tory Russell.

Tory is the co-founder of the Hands Up United.

Tory, thanks for joining us.

I turned up on him. You know, I was mad.

Turned up on CNN.

We're just waiting on a indictment,

the same thing that we marched in the streets

and protested about.

We're anxious to actually receive what we want

which is simple justice, man.

We just want the system of policing to be held accountable.

So Tory, are you urging calm regardless of the decision?

I am urging calm.

I'm urging calm for the police officers

to not pepper spray me, tear gas me, mace me,

and sh**t rubber b*ll*ts, and some nights,

they shot people with real b*ll*ts.

I think people need to urge the police to be calm,

stop hurting kids, stop traumatizing our communities.

Keeping hope alive, but if that cop don't get locked up,

you think it was worse when we was looting?

It's gonna get worse times .

Darren Wilson just messed with us

the week before Michael Brown got k*lled.

He stay f*cking with people. He need to be locked the f*ck up.

[interviewer chatting] Yes, he just, he flagged me.

-You? -Yes, I didn't do

anything to Darren Wilson.

He flagged me. I took his badge number down, car.

They don't wanna hear sh*t at the station.

Stay messing with people. Messed with him.

Show 'em your wrist, or your hand.

No, he is ashamed of it.

INTERVIEWER: Darren Wilson messed with him, too?

Yeah, show 'em your...

He don't wanna show it when I say he's messed up

all on the shoulder, drug him by his knees and everything.

We stay in Canfield.

I would not want to be in Officer Wilson's shoes.

I'm showing solidarity with the people of Ferguson

because they have been oppressed and discriminated against

and exploited their entire lives, and now,

they gotta deal with a police department

that's oppressing them.

The percentage of Black people in Ferguson is %,

and only % of the cops are Black.

That's what you call the good old white boys club,

and that's gonna end.

Thanks for your patience.

I ran a little late getting up here.

I have a statement at the very beginning here,

and then we'll be happy to answer some questions

when we're finished with that.

Being on that freezing night when the police

had repeatedly said that nighttime is the problem,

and they want to be able to let people protest in the day,

and then, produce this sort of -minute diatribe

which complained about everything from obviously

the protesters, the family, bloggers,

the media, federal government.

It just reeled off this patronizing list of things,

dragging it out for another minutes at a time

when there was National Guard around every corner.

There were literally tanks.

With the snow falling, the Christmas lights up,

Merry Christmas strung across the nice part of Ferguson,

and the riot police lined up under that bizarre tableau,

it was scary as hell.

The grand jury deliberated over two days,

making their final decision.

They determined that no probable cause exists to file

any charge against Officer Wilson and returned

a no-true bill on each of the five indictments.

FEMALE REPORTER: Breaking news.

Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted.

The grand jury finding no probable cause to indict

Officer Darren Wilson in the death

of an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown.

No indictment. Are you sure?

[people chatting] [unsettling music]

We want answers! We want answers!

We want answers!

We want answers! [people shouting]

We want answers! [people shouting]

I'm a female, and your male officer pushed me in the face!

This is what y'all signed up for, right?

You shoulda signed up for the freakin' military!

I'm a civilian!

[whistles tooting] [people shouting]

OFFICER: Now is your opportunity to leave.

That includes members of the media.

That includes you guys.

Get over on that shoulder and get your asses moving.

I'm not gonna tell you again.

One more time. [riot sticks thumping]

[unsettling music] [people shouting]

Burn this b*tch down! Burn this b*tch down!

[people shouting] [glass shattering]

KELLER: Moments later, the tear gas started,

and everyone just sort of ran on and just started sprinting.

[people shouting] [tires screeching]

[engine revving] [people shouting]

FEMALE REPORTER: Rioting protesters are furious

that officer Darren Wilson will face no charges.

OFFICER: Please stop destroying property

here in Ferguson, Missouri.

I'm alarmed.

The level of violence and indifference to human life is,

it's staggering.

MAN: They're jabbing at the media.

MAN: They just pepper sprayed me again.

Some media just got pepper sprayed.

They're now arresting people.

The police were out of control.

There was like seven different groups of police

who had never worked together, who had no training

who were suddenly given tanks, LRADs, noise cannons.

They were given toys, and they wanted to use them.

I think if I was a police officer

and I'm guarding a building and I get surrounded

by a whole bunch of people, I would feel threatened.

If you put people in fear, they're gonna deploy mace.

People are upset about the mace,

but you know, in the old days,

the police officers woulda used nightsticks.

The police literally reached into the crowd and pulled out

young women and drug them into the middle of the street.

I had never seen anything as terrifying

like that before in my life.

Don't you know where you going?

Is it hell, or is it heaven?

That's all I wanna know!

Y'all better get right with God.

On TV, they started showing what was going on

on West Florissant. [people shouting]

[club thudding] [glass shattering]

I got out of the shop, and around :,

I just put my daughter down and I sit in front of the TV,

and as I do, I'm looking on the TV and I see

this group of people rushing into my store, with rocks.

FEMALE REPORTER: Police are still assessing the damage,

and firefighters still working to put out these fires.

By later that night, people were tuning over police cars,

and half the city was aflame.

[glass shattering] [people shouting]

People getting burned and cars burned up.

Thank you. [unsettling music]

Flames, ashes flying in your eyes, smoke all over the place.

You couldn't see nothing. It was real scary.

[woman shouting] [people shouting]

MAN: Ferguson! Ferguson!

CROWD: Don't sh**t! [canister hissing]

It was like a surreal nightmare.

It was certainly one of the most powerful, but certainly

terrible things I've ever seen.

All of us as Americans should be troubled

by these shootings because these are not isolated incidents.

To be concerned about these issues is not

to be against law enforcement.

When people say Black Lives Matter,

that just means the data shows

Black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents.

This isn't a matter of us comparing

the value of lives, this is

recognizing that there is a particular burden

that is being placed on a group of our fellow citizens.

[siren wailing] [flames crackling]

[melancholic piano music]

The next morning, I drove in to work, and I wanted to cry

'cause I saw the broken glass

from where the worst had happened.

I've never been so brokenhearted in my life.

We have an opportunity to make changes

that are bigger than us.

The areas that were set afire and burned down,

those were areas where people who are

economically challenged live. [melancholic piano music]

It has been shattering to see what has happened

to this community in terms of, not what we ourselves

have felt about our community,

but about how it's been portrayed to the outside world.

The Michael Brown sh**ting was a tragedy

to lose a young life, but when this all happened,

it's like why are they targeting us and for so long?

Yeah, it's still, I still question the whole thing.

You know, I'm not taking it personally,

and I'm not bitter.

I just wish that somehow we'll find a way

to gain something out of all this.

We all have our own agendas.

Am I mad at the protest? No.

Am I mad that they burned it down? No.

Would I would have told them to do that? No.

But, you know, it opened the case more.

It made people pay attention to what was going on here,

and it just let them know that people are tired.

They tired, they ain't taking it no more.

The Black Lives Matter slogan

does not sit well with a lot of whites,

and it hasn't sat well with me.

You know, we all feel like all lives matter.

All races of lives matter, citizens' lives matter,

police officers' lives matter, all lives matter.

We understand that all lives matter,

but until you see me in the same light

that you see yourself, I have to keep being specific.

CROWD: We say fight back!

We say fight back!

I did feel like, well, there were people that felt oh,

it's just time to move out of Ferguson

'cause it's just gonna go downhill.

I felt like I needed to step up.

I needed to find ways where I specifically could

get involved to see if there was ways that we could help.

There was some opportunities to organize

a food drive for the people in Canfield.

A lot of the residents really couldn't even

get out to get to the grocery store.

The police were barricading one end.

Protesters were coming kinda in the backside,

so myself and two guys that I knew loaded all this stuff

up in coolers from our church, drove it over to Canfield.

So as we're driving, there was a lot of activity going on.

There was a church group there, and as I'm driving,

I suddenly realize I'm driving right by the memorial

was in the middle of the road for Michael,

and that was a kind of a surreal moment for me

realizing that that's where he had been,

that's where he had laid in the road.

Probably at that moment,

it really became a real, tangible

idea that something needed to happen.

[brakes squealing]

I was a kid once,

and I was set on a path of going to jail,

just the school-to-prison pipeline.

I was trying to figure out what should I do

besides just protesting.

How do I make action come into plan?

Like, how do I make change?

We was talking about planting a garden in my neighborhood

I was staying in.

It seemed like it happened overnight

because it just moved so quickly and just happened.

It was like real, and like one day I woke up and realized

it's really happening.

All you gotta do is take steps forward.

Hopefully some kids done showed up, some of the kids.

Dealing with the kids, that's why I feel more strong

'cause if they don't have guidance to let them know

they have options other than what

the system say they have,

they gonna fall into that line, too.

They gonna fall into that school-to-prison pipeline.

[birds chirping] [insects chirping]

I had an epiphany, like one of my sunflowers died,

but then it grew another head, and it bloomed.

So it reminds me of life.

When I go to the garden, it just remind me of life,

how things can die and how another thing can pop up

and just look so pretty.

[siren wailing faintly] [soil crunching]

[car doors slamming] [car alarm beeping]

I know that this is not a perfect community.

I know that we have things that we have to change,

and I certainly am committed to being part of that change.

I had forgotten what was on it,

or I don't think I ever really heard

the words that were printed on it.

It leaves a wish for peace and happiness

which is what I think we'd like to see happen, too.

I've often wondered what he would think,

all that has happened since that day.

[words whooshing] [dramatic music]

MALE REPORTER: Protesters plan a series of events

to mark the one-year anniversary

since Michael Brown's death.

FEMALE REPORTER: And one year later, what's changed,

and how have we moved forward as a community?

MALE REPORTER: There is no plan to have

a large police presence in the streets

at the start of planned demonstrations.

Alrighty, so, how many of you all

have actually done civil disobedience training?

Non-violence is predicated on violence.

This is about not about a few bad apples,

but a rotten system, but we don't hate individual officers.

We hate injustice.

Other things you need to protest. You need three things.

Lawyers, say it. Lawyers.

Live streamers. Live streamers.

And medics. And medics.

'Cause they will f*ck you up in Ferguson.

They do not play here.

Justice for Mike Brown is Justice for us all!

Which side are you on!

The importance of opposing and resisting power,

it's really not an either-or.

It's not either protest or vote.

It's protest that you don't really have

anything to vote for,

so this kind of external protesting is like instigating.

You're on the outside, and you're poking

and you're keeping up this pressure

and you're making power uncomfortable.

The real story that is not being told

is that poor, Black, everyday people have set the terms

of the political debate in America,

and that's very significant.

We're having this conversation 'cause some...

not some guys in bow ties and cuff links,

but because some... what we would call in modernity n*gg*s

took to the street and said, "We ain't going home."

Fight back! Fight back! [melancholic music]

♪ I can hear my neighbor crying ♪

♪ Saying I can't breathe ♪

♪ And now, I'm in the struggle ♪

♪ Saying I can't leave ♪

♪ We're calling out the violence ♪

♪ Of the r*cist police ♪

♪ And we ain't gonna stop ♪

♪ Until the people are free ♪

All right, all right, all right.

You are now tuned in to the voice

in the heart of the movement.

We have one of my heroes in the movement,

a man that has taken on the cause I believe,

not because he wants to, but because he had to.

The president of Chosen for Change,

we have Michael Brown, Sr. in the muthafuckin' house.

[people laughing]

Oh man, thanks for having me, brother.

TWEEZIE: All good. Man I'm excited, man.

I'm just in a blessed space where I can

just be at some type of peace.

Definitely, the emotions are still high.

Everything is still going fast. Kids still have questions.

People, public, communities still have questions.

So, just trying to stay positive

and move forward on a positive note.

Tell us about the Chosen families.

Well, Michael Brown Chosen for Change Foundation

is all these families have lost their loved one.

So, we bringing community and bringing

the love and family back together.

They're coming down to celebrate.

Well, commemorate the day of losing Mike.

WOMAN: All right, well, good morning everyone.

GROUP: Good morning.

WOMAN: It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

GROUP: It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

It is our duty to win! It is our duty to win!

We must love and care for one another.

GROUP: We must love and care for one another.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.

GROUP: We have nothing to lose but our chains.

[group applauding] [man whistling]

Because this is our chosen families

healing and prayer breakfast,

I want to recognize who we're representing here today.

So if we could start on this table going around,

and if one person from the family will just say

who you're representing today.

I'm Jackie Johnson, the mother of Kendrick Johnson

k*lled January th, in Valdosta, Georgia.

We are representing my son from Tampa, Florida,

Andrew Joseph III, who was k*lled February the th, .

My name is David Morris.

My son is David Morris III,

and he was k*lled December rd, .

I'm Crystal Brown representing Marlon Brown

k*lled by the police May th, .

My name is Reverend Cary Terrell Ball, Sr.

I am the father of Cary Terrell Ball, Jr.

who was k*lled April the th, .

I'm the mother of Justice Howell.

My name is Latoya Howell.

My son was k*lled in Zion, Illinois, April th, .

I'm Erica Gordon Taylor.

I'm here with my mother, Ollie Gordon.

We're here to represent the family of Emmett Till.

She's the last living relative to have lived in the home

with Emmett before he was m*rder*d in .

I'm representing my family, the Sterling family.

Alvin Sterling was m*rder*d by two r*cist police officers

in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July the th, .

I am Ceephus, the uncle of Oscar Grant.

years ago, my nephew Oscar was m*rder*d

at Fruitvale BART station,

and when I saw that video, I was really a angry Black man.

I had nothing but destruction on my mind.

That's how I felt.

'Cause I'm not in a forgiving mood these days.

I'm not there yet.

I'm gonna get there eventually, I guess,

but right now, I'm like, hell, no.

You m*rder*d my nephew.

You m*rder*d him like an animal,

and I want you to go to jail.

So I'm not there yet.

You hear it a lot.

You have to forgive, you have to forgive.

That's not what God is talking about.

I don't got to forgive this officer for murdering my child.

I have to forgive what's going on

inside of me because of it, and once I let that go,

I'll begin to understand that I am here for a purpose.

We have been chosen for change,

and we can't help that we're here,

but I encourage everybody here to continue to fight

through the storm because it hit me so hard this morning.

Lord Jesus, it almost broke me.

I was ready to go. Everybody seen it.

It almost broke me.

It's just us in this battle, justice,

and I need to remember and hold on to the strength

that God gave me because I know it's gonna change.

I been gone a month now.

I've been in South Carolina doing prison reform.

I still have work to do here,

but I'm telling you I get so much peace out there, man.

MAN: Wow. [infant babbling]

I can breathe, you know?

I respect the love, but I ain't got every minute.

People walking up to me, how you're doing, how you feeling.

Look at my face, and you can tell how I'm feeling,

but definitely, if it wasn't for y'all,

I wouldn't even have a start.

Y'all thought I was there for y'all?

sh*t, y'all was there for me.

[people clapping] You heard me?

I need that.

I need that, you know?

I know we all need that, but just know,

I was using y'all, too. [group laughing]

All y'all. [group laughing and clapping]

Nobody woke up that morning when their loved one was dying

and said, "Hey, I wanna be the face of the movement.

"I wanna be at nine o'clock news.

"I wanna be the next morning and be on CNN.

"I don't wanna do this.

"I don't wanna be all tears down my eyes where my children

"crying as the casket lowered down in the ground."

Nobody woke up in the morning and said,

"I wanna be that voice," because what Mike Brown does is

he gave me a voice.

I think August th probably began

the transformation of my life.

Probably think they we're crazy.

We probably a bunch of young, Black radicals

who just wanna burn the city down.

It's not true.

We're just mad and wanna see some change.

We must organize, organize, and organize.

[crowd cheering and applauding]

I was one of them close-minded people.

I just didn't know.

As you open your eyes and realize life is politics,

so when we say we don't like politics or know politics,

we're living politics [melancholic music]

This is the best fight I have ever been in,

fighting for something that I believe in

and especially for my son.

[pleasant piano music]

Hope means life can be different.

Hope means that no matter how dark the night is,

tomorrow's a new day.

♪ It isn't right ♪

♪ Far too many fallin' ♪

♪ They say it's in the name of the greater good ♪

♪ Oh, we've lost sight ♪

I don't live in fear. I live in truth.

I think I used to live in fear,

but when I first seen Michael Brown,

when I first heard about Tamir Rice,

when I first heard about Sandra Bland,

I realized like fear is kinda irrelevant.

It doesn't matter what you do.

Some people will always look at you how they look at you.

Committing yourself to that fear

and living according to that fear, you k*ll yourself.

I feel like I woke out of a deep sleep.

I can never go back to the person I was

or the way I was thinking.

I see everyday struggles in a different way

that I used to see it.

You know, anything I want to do, I can do it.

Don't say I can't do it, 'cause I can.

For those of you who can.

OSAGYEFO: Love is the only thing that really allows us

to keep going forward.

Today! Today!

Is the beginning! Is the beginning!

Of your movement! Of your movement!

All over the country, young people are on fire.

White folks are on fire, and that has become global.

♪ I will stand for you ♪

♪ Would you stand for me ♪

♪ Everybody deserves to be free ♪

This little unknown place has now been etched

in the name of history by virtue of the fact

that young people won't bow down.

CROWD: This is what democracy looks like!

To see young people have the courage

to put aside respectability politics and say,

"We don't care whether or not you think

"this is the respectable way to go about this.

"We are choosing to stand up and demand

"our voices be heard."

You can't stop the revolution!

CROWD: You can't stop the revolution!

Fight back! Fight back! Fight back! Fight back!

In the streets of Ferguson next to some q*eer kids

and some kids with tattoos on their face,

I rediscovered my radical self.

That's why they bring tanks and tear gas out

'cause we've won, and the question is not

if they believe we've won,

but the question is whether or not we believe we've won,

and we need to live as though we've already won

because we have.

♪ I will stand for you ♪

♪ Would you stand for me ♪

♪ Everybody deserves to be free ♪

♪ I would lend a hand to you ♪

♪ Would you lend a hand to me ♪

♪ Everybody deserves to be free ♪

♪ And, I will lend a hand to you ♪

♪ Would you lend a hand to me ♪

♪ Everybody deserves to be free ♪

♪ I will stand for you ♪

♪ Would you stand for me ♪

♪ Everybody deserves to be free ♪

♪ Hand to you ♪

♪ Would you lend a hand to me ♪

♪ Everybody deserves to be free ♪

♪ And everybody deserves to be free ♪

♪ And everybody ♪

♪ Deserves ♪

♪ To be free, yeah, oh ♪

The death of my son did do change.

Mike Brown equals change.

I didn't get justice, but we took a loss

for the eye-opener of the system to be exposed.

[wings flapping] Is it over?

It's not never over, it's just the beginning.

♪ We've been to walls we couldn't climb ♪

♪ And we chased the light that made us blind ♪

♪ But I know we can walk this road ♪

♪ One step at a time ♪

♪ No matter how far, no matter how wide ♪

♪ Your hand, I hold, and you'll hold mine ♪

♪ No matter how long, no matter how tired ♪

♪ And together, we'll weather the storm ♪

♪ It'll be all right ♪

♪ 'Cause if you're callin', then I'm all in ♪

♪ Even if I'm fallin' ♪

♪ Savin' you is gonna save my life♪

♪ And if you're ready, I'll hold you steady♪

♪ When the load is heavy♪

♪ And we can make it to the other side, yeah♪

♪ We can make it to the other side, yeah♪

♪ We can make it to the other side♪

♪ 'Cause if you're callin', then I'm all in ♪

♪ Even if I'm fallin' ♪

♪ Savin' you is gonna save my life ♪

♪ And if you're ready, I'll hold you steady ♪

♪ When the load is heavy ♪

♪ And we can make it to the other side ♪

♪ And we can make it to the other side ♪

♪ And we can make it to the other side ♪