Melanie Randels moved from St. Louis to Ferguson in late spring 2014. The 38-year-old moved to the northern suburb of St. Louis County so that her children could attend better schools and her family could enjoy a higher quality of life.

“Ferguson was always considered a good neighborhood. It had good shops, libraries and everything that makes a community a good community,” Randels said. “Three months later, my view of Ferguson, the police and the community had changed forever.”

When Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer, shot and killed 18-year-old black man Michael Brown Jr. on Aug. 9, 2014, Randels said, it exposed the practices of excessive police presence and unfair treatment by law enforcement that black people in the north of the county have faced for years.

“It was always a constant conversation: ‘Oh, don’t drive down New Florissant or drive too fast through Cool Valley, they’ll wait for you,'” she said.

Brown’s killing sparked months of protests, calls for local and national reforms, and federal investigations into the conduct of law enforcement and courts in the region. Later that year, a grand jury declined to indict Wilson, and a review by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring the case to trial.

Lawrence Bryant

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St. Louis Americans

Some black residents of Ferguson say they have seen positive changes in the community over the past decade, as police no longer stop and arrest motorists as often. The increase in community centers and new businesses has helped bring pride back to a place that was negatively spotlighted nationally after Brown’s killing. Still, many say there is still much work to be done in Ferguson to improve the lives of its black residents.

At the corner of West Florissant Avenue and Northwinds Estates Drive is the headquarters of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Salvation Army. Ten years ago, this very spot was ground zero for protesters during the unrest when angry demonstrators set fire to a QuickTrip gas station.

As residents visited the community center this week to find jobs, pay bills or sign up for benefits, some also checked out the memorial art exhibit “As I See You,” hosted by Michael Brown Sr.’s Chosen for Change organization and exhibited about his son’s life.

“As soon as you walk in, you get goosebumps, you feel like it was 10 years ago,” said Malik Taylor. “I think that’s the whole point of it, to put you in the right mindset so we don’t forget.”

In the exhibit, area artists are showing a large painting of Brown in his high school cap and gown, a series of close-up photographs from the 2014 Ferguson uprisings and collages of Brown. A handwoven quilt with messages from the community hangs from the ceiling and a life-sized sculpture of Brown sits at a school desk, wearing headphones, a Cardinals cap and holding a Normandy High School diploma.

Sophie Proe

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St. Louis Public Radio

Sophie Proe

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St. Louis Public Radio

Taylor, a 28-year-old local rapper and youth employment counselor at the community center, said Brown’s death motivated him to advocate for younger black men in the area who need help finding and staying employed.

“We are empowering people here so that we don’t have situations like Mike Brown,” he said. “We have great, independent thinkers who make their own money and are able to do good for the community.”

Taylor said many black people in the area, himself included, have had traumatic experiences with police that have negatively impacted their lives and mental health.

“I was being profiled and I was kind of helpless. I was just at the mercy of this cop, and this was probably right before Mike Brown was killed, but I could still feel the discomfort,” he said. “I wasn’t comfortable in that situation. I knew it wasn’t something I hadn’t really done wrong.”

Randels also had bad experiences with police, but after Brown’s death, it seems the community is learning to take better care of itself, she said.

“I think we have made great strides as humans in understanding mental health and the stages of grief, and also the unintended impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on many of us,” she said.

Randels said she noticed that excessive policing of black drivers in the area had diminished, but many black residents were still suffering from the trauma they experienced.

The U.S. Department of Justice noted this trauma when it investigated Ferguson police and municipal courts after Brown’s death. The department concluded that the courts had violated residents’ civil rights and called for reforms – including requiring police to wear body cameras and changing use-of-force policies.

Brian Munoz

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St. Louis Public Radio

Police work in Ferguson

Improving relations between black residents and Ferguson police has been a difficult task for police chiefs over the years. The majority-black city has had five permanent police chiefs since Brown’s death. Randels said that while black motorists are not being stopped as often, the relationship with police is still strained.

When he is sworn in in March 2023, Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle said he would work to change the culture and reassure the department that the settlement resolution – a 2016 agreement between Ferguson and the Justice Department to implement better policing policies – was positive. In April, he told St. Louis Public Radio that he had increased the number of black police officers, made cosmetic changes to police cars and his officers were issuing more warnings than tickets.

Ferguson police have been criticized over the years for their excessive issuing of tickets. According to the Missouri Attorney General’s 2022 Vehicle Stops Report, black drivers are stopped and arrested by police more often than white drivers.

Policing is not the only area of ​​law enforcement that has come under criticism. In a recent report, ArchCity Defenders called for the consolidation of St. Louis’ municipal court system. The civil rights organization said the courts disproportionately harm poor and black people.

Brian Munoz

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St. Louis Public Radio

Move forward

Policing will always be a problem in Ferguson, says John Bowman, president of the St. Louis County NAACP chapter, but he sees progress in other areas.

“There are new health centers opening there, like Affinia and Mercy,” he said. “Another really positive development, in my opinion, is the number of black business owners in Ferguson. It’s increased tremendously.”

However, he feels that people do not have sufficient access to the resources provided to the community.

“Then it doesn’t really add the value it should,” Bowman said.

In addition to new businesses and community spaces, the increased number of black politicians, community organizers and activists is one of the greatest achievements of the protest movement in Ferguson, Bowman said.

One of those politicians is Ella Jones, Ferguson’s first black mayor, elected in 2020. At the grand opening of the Urban League’s new facility on Pershall Road in Ferguson last week, she said her tenure has brought many challenges. Jones said the community has grown since Brown’s death, but improving race relations between black and white residents has been difficult. She’s also trying to get more people involved in city government to bridge that gap.

Jones said she is impressed with the work the Urban League and other organizations have done in the community. Thousands of people have gotten jobs through the Urban League’s “Save our Sons and Daughters” program, which she said helps build momentum in the community.

“You have to realize that without people, there can be no growth, no equality, no diversity,” she said. “It can happen with people who are willing to work together to advance not only their ideas, but also the community.”