by Alexandra Moffett-Bateau
Originally published in RH Reality Check
This piece is published in collaboration with Echoing Ida, a Forward Together project.
On Saturday, August 9, Michael Brown became one of several U.S. Black men in recent weeks to die violently at the hands of a law enforcement officer. Within days, Ferguson, and along with it Black-American hearts and minds everywhere, seemed to implode. I know mine did.
My Facebook, Twitter, and Google feeds were consumed with what was happening in Ferguson. All of my friends and loved ones were trying to process the crisis, express outrage, and grieve simultaneously. I couldn’t think or feel anything else. It was an emotional paralysis that I’ve never experienced concurrently with such a large group of people before.
As the days went on, the National Guard was called, tear gas was used on non-violent protesters, and I struggled to trudge through the overwhelm of watching my community be treated in a way that lacked compassion, empathy, or humanity.
