Nearly 50 protestors were arrested, including the Rev. Anne Kelsey (retired rector of Trinity, St. Louis), interns at Deaconess Anne House Episcopal Service Corps (see Twitter feed below), director of the house the Rev. Jon Stratton and the Rev. Rebecca Ragland (interim pastor of Church of the Holy Communion, University City) . Scholar Cornel West, was also arrested. The Patriot News reports.
Pounding rain and tornado watches didn’t deter hundreds of protesters Monday outside Ferguson police headquarters, where they stayed for almost four hours to mark how long 18-year-old Michael Brown’s body was left in a street after he was fatally shot by police.
Organizers of the four-day Ferguson October protests dubbed the day “Moral Monday” and committed acts of civil disobedience across the St. Louis region. …
All told, nearly 50 people were arrested, including scholar and civil rights activist Cornel West.
The Rt Rev Wayne Smith stated:
“My faith compels me to be here,” Bishop Wayne Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri said outside Ferguson police headquarters. “I want to show solidarity, and call attention to the structural racism of St. Louis.”
… demands called for an end to participation in a program providing military equipment to police, body cameras for all officers, a civilian review board for police and mandatory independent investigations whenever police kill someone.
LA Times covers the story here.
The Very Rev. Mike Kinman reflects on being in Ferguson on Monday and why he marches:
I march today as a small part of trying to bring about that Beloved Community.
I march today specifically at the Ferguson Police Department because I wish to highlight the injustices of the systems of policing not only in Ferguson and St. Louis but in this nation. Systems which target people of color and treat them with less dignity and respect than people who look like me. Systems where the power differential is so skewed that a culture of verbal and physical abuse, particularly of young people of color, is allowed to exist and even thrive.
I march today in solidarity with the young people committed to nonviolent protest who have been on the streets for the more than 60 days since Michael Brown was killed. I march in solidarity with them in awe of their courage, their strength, their refusal to go away until their voices are heard and changes are made.
I march today in solidarity with clergy and people of faith who share these convictions. Some of them are choosing to risk arrest. I do not believe that is the path I am called down at this time. But I stand with them in solidarity and admiration.
I march today FOR the women and men of the Ferguson Police Department, the St. Louis County and City Police and all the police, judicial and governmental structures of our region. The Beloved Community includes them. The Beloved Community needs them. I march in deep, prayerful hope that the passionate conviction we have for justice will engage us all as partners in bringing the Beloved Community about.
I march today as the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, knowing that even though that title means far less than it did in days past (and in many ways that is good), that it still means something for the leader of this storied institution to stand as previous deans from Montgomery Schuyler through Michael Allen have, stand with the voices of the oppressed and affirming that in Christ, if one suffers, we all suffer.
Finally, and most important, I march today as a father. This is about our daughters and sons who are growing up black and brown in America. It is about their safety and even their very survival. I also march as a father because my son has chosen to march with me.
Read more here and current photos and notes at Mike’s Facebook page, “We’re trying to urge people not to just be voyeurs about what is happening in St. Louis but to seek out the young voices of change where they are and amplify them.”
Mike Kinman’s photo of release from jail of the Rev. Anne Kelsey and the interns from Episcopal Service Corps used by permission. The pictures were taken at the Justice Center in Clayton, MO.
