Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 7668 Plough Quarterly • Winter 2015 Y oung people are still protesting in Ferguson almost three months after the death of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. Their perseverance is impressive; they press on after the national media have left and after people have stopped flocking to St. Louis to support them. But how likely is it that they will accomplish the goals of their protest, even after all their efforts? The community’s solidarity and determination in its response to the shooting reveals two things. First, it con- firms that the ability of social media to galvanize revolu­ tions is not limited to distant places like Iran. Second, these young people and the adults who support them were just discover­ ing the power they potentially had at their fingertips. When Michael Brown, an eighteen-year-old black man, was shot down in the middle of the day by a white police officer, Torrey Russell, another young black man, announced on social media that he was going to the police station to demand some answers. He was astonished to find himself heading a large crowd of youth. The next day, Rev. Traci Blackmon, a United Church of Christ minister, took to social media to declare her intention of joining the young people’s protest. She too was greeted by an unexpected crowd of supporters at the police station. Kareem Jackson, a St. Louis rapper, stepped up when women and children were assaulted with tear gas canisters and defended them by tossing back the canisters. This young man talked down gang leaders and other youth who were ready to arm themselves and take on the police who publicly referred to black people as “coon” and “nigguh.” Though social media brought the protest- ers together, it is the underlying problems in the community that have fueled their staying power. Ferguson is Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1963. Only three officers out of a police force of E U G E N E R I V E R S Dispatch from Ferguson Obtaining Justice for a Wounded Community A former gang member who graduated from Harvard, Eugene F. Rivers III is pastor of the Azusa Christian Community in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His programs to get churches involved in curbing youth violence in his inner-city Boston neighborhood have been emulated nationwide. We asked him for his insights on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, prompted by the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed eighteen-year-old, by a police officer. An impromptu memorial to Michael Brown Photograph by Loavesofbread