‘Am I Next?’: Ferguson’s Protests Through the Eyes of a Teenager from Transient Pictures on Vimeo.
A 16-year-old kid says more with a marker and paper than all of the media did.
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Looting, chanting, tear gas, and rubber bullets have been the frequent images coming out of Ferguson, Mo.
Much of the press coverage following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson has centered more on Brown’s character, personal issues, and a smaller number of looters– rather than asking the greater number of people why they’re protesting and reacting so angrily in the aftermath.
The vast majority of protesters have been peaceful and standing up for their rights, armed with little more than chalk and paper signs protesting what they view as an injustice.
Hoping to create a memorial for Michael Brown, the teenager killed by a police officer in the St Louis suburb on August 9, we follow teenager Shane Flowers as he weaved through the protests, attempting to let his voice be heard and fight for change as the darkness slowly fell on Florissant Avenue.As he moves through the crowds, he hears differing opinions from other protesters on the best ways to fight for change.
If you want to get to the heart of why people are so frustrated and enraged, look no further than the 16-year-old who expresses much of what the community is struggling with and writing down the questions many are asking.
by Skippy Massey
This post originally appeared at the Humboldt Sentinel. Reprinted with permission.
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