What the Ferguson Decision Means to Me as an African American

By Laura Thompson

I was not surprised by the verdict of not guilty afforded to Zimmerman regarding the Trayvon Martin murder and I am not surprised by the judges decision regarding the Mike Brown murder at the hands of a Ferguson, Missouri police officer.  And you shouldn't be either.

What I am surprised about is how divided and disconnected we are as African Americans and why we continue to react the same way to these brutal attacks on our young men.  I don't understand why we are not learning from the brutality of our fallen sons and why we are not coming together and standing together long enough to change this situation.

When I was a young girl reading about slavery, I would often ask my parents and my teachers, why we were in slavery for so long, when we out numbered the slave owners.  I ascertained that it was because they had all the ammunition and they kept us divided.  They made all the rules and they enforced the rules through brutality.

For generations, they have used the same system to keep us divided and they are still  using excessive force and brutality because they still own all the weapons and police forces are turning into militias all over the country.

Despite of our opposition, we have to find some common ground among ourselves and position ourselves to fight back and be proactive.

As an African American woman with a son, the Ferguson verdict is terrifying.  But what is more terrifying is that we protest for a moment and then we go silent until the next casualty.  Fighting for justice is not an every now and then situation.  It is not a once and a while battle.  It's an everyday battle.  How do we come together and mobilize to make a difference in the lives of our sons now and for generations to follow?  The game is the same.  The players are different.  Yet the same thing continues to happen.  We're going to have to change the game, in order to change that way we are treated.

Chime in...