One of the reason I have been sharing info about Ferguson is that I started following some residents on twitter soon after the shooting and have learned about things that MSM haven’t covered, such as police raiding a church that was set up as a safe place for protesters to relax. That one incident would have been at the forefront of Christian blogs and media if it were any other situation. In another place there would have been an uproar. But white Christian America could only see the two nights of looting/violence and nothing else. And first hand accounts of how the police handled the protest from people who were not looting, rioting, or tossing molotav cocktails give a different perspective than CNN. Some were even standing up to the looters.
I know it can be confusing when I share these things. Some don’t understand that I just want their voice to be heard, without agreeing with everything said. I am trying to encourage empathy. But I can’t help how you take it. I realize some don’t want to hear a different side of the story. Hope it is interesting and enlightening for someone.
These people are why my heart has been touched by the situation.
@antoniofrench
@Nettaaaaaaaa
@deray
Here are some thoughts (tweets) from Netta
My age, the fact that I am a woman with a vision and a voice that people choose to listen to… That bothers some. But I will defend that.
Never had an immediate problem w/the police til my friend was shot & killed this summer. Slandered by police, his death swept under the rug.
On days when I’m disgusted by the police or by the trolls who defend the trolls, when the news portrays protesters as animals …I think of how Mike Brown’s parents must feel. How it feels to have your child be killed and placed on trial by America to defend his killer
I am black. And I am not a savage. Or an animal. Or violent. I am nothing the mainstream media depicts us to be. I am me.
I want the right to express every human emotion just like every other person of any kind of race without judgement. We all deserve that.
I want the guys from the hood to feel comfortable raising their young princes the same way the middle class man is w/his young dignitaries.
I want the right to live freely and not have someone police my emotions or thoughts or feelings or how I choose to express myself.
Hard making yourself realize the place you grew up loving is the same place here tragedy on a mass level potentially is going to take place.
I grew up loving Saint Louis. Taking proud of my city. We grew up here. And now ppl who look like me are being shot & killed like prey.
We have to discuss safe spaces where the police can not come with their guns or intimidation tactics but the news Sho
I don’t want to see or find out about someone I’ve grown close to in 81 days dying in the streets for protesting, after a no indictment.ws it vice versa.
I want to try to conserve all human life. I want to be able to offer solutions to our immediate problems. That’s realistic.
It takes a LOT of restraint to be next to the man who ordered protesters to be tear gassed. Shot with rubber bullets. That is me.
Hard to hear the man who ordered for us to be shot with rubber bullets to now say trust him.
How do we protect even sacred spaces like churches from police invasion. That is a real life issue. In middle America.
I wish I could wake up tomorrow and the world see value in black life across the board. No matter how uncomfortable some of us make you feel