La Salle Students React to Ferguson
La Salle students react through poetry
December 19, 2014
The killing of Michael Brown, a black teenager, this summer by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri has sparked a national conversation about race and the role of the police.
Mr. Stegner, a La Salle history teacher, decided that the way to participate in this conversation is through poetry. After giving his students ample details about the event, its connection to history, and the persistence of racism in our country, he asked his ninth and tenth grade students in US History to channel their knowledge and emotions into poetic verse. They used a simple technique borrowed from another poem with the repeating line “Write that I…” to structure their poems, and they took on the perspective of someone who was impacted (living today or from history) by the death of Michael Brown, from musicians to Civil Rights leaders to other young black people who have been killed by the police to Michael Brown himself or his family members.
The class discussed how writing is a way of turning something painful and raw into something that can empower us to bring about positive change. Mr. Stegner says, “The poems below have definitely accomplished this.”
***
By Quinn Norton
write that I
Michael Brown an 18 year old man shot six times know what happened that day but my voice is forever silenced the cop that shot me does too but will he come clean with the truth
all of the witnesses have their own stories of the truth of what happened to me that day but they are all different
write that I
Michael Brown know the truth but am no longer here to tell it
write that I
Michael Brown was not a perfect person and had my ups and downs but did I deserve to die
I can’t help but wonder that if I were white and in a different neighborhood would I still be dead or alive
write that I Michael Brown wonder if I was killed because I deserved to die or because of the color of my skin
write that I
Michael Brown am not the only one that has had to deal
with the pain of wondering whether my death was just or not In 1999 Amadou Diallo was shot at 41 times by police officers and hit by 19 of them killing him
He was unarmed and yes, he was black
In 1991 Rodney King was repeatedly beaten by Los Angeles cops for driving too fast
He was unarmed and yes, he was black
write that I
Michael Brown am not the only unarmed person that died and yes, I was black
***
By Nick Dawson
Write that I
Martin Luther King Jr.
The one who brought Jim Crow down
all those years ago. Was the one that
lead the Children’s March on May 2, May 3,
May 4 and May 5, 1963, the one
who brought peace to a nation that
Was divided by race.
When you tell my story
tell them I said on August 28th, 1963, ” I have a dream that
one day that my 4 little children will live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of
their skin, but by the content of his character.”
Yet there is still racial injustice today.
Young Michael Brown an unarmed African
American teen was shot 6 times in Ferguson
Missouri by a person who was sworn
to protect the people.
Write that I
Martin Luther King Jr. was
the one who worked toward
equality for man to thrive toward
peace. However Michael Brown is the perfect
example of inequality for the ages of mankind.
But we can achieve peace again. Let Michael Brown be an
example.
When you tell my story
say that I want a peaceful protest,
it’s what gentle giant Michael Brown
would have wanted.
Write that I
Martin Luther King Jr.
have a dream that one day
future generations will live in a world
where a man is not judged by the color
of their skin, but by the content of their character.
***
By Keenan Jameson
When I tell my story tell them God has a plan for us whether you know it or not
It’s not cool to kill someone I don’t care if they are a cop
God ain’t put us on the earth to get murdered
Simple and plain
All I have to say to those cops
That still take those shots
When you tell my story tell the police that after you pulled the trigger and let that bullet fly
Try looking into the eyes of the man you just murdered in the street
Leaving him in the street
For 4 hours no more and no less
Now you got people in the streets
Tryna protest for Michael Brown
When you tell my story tell them that
It’s easy to shoot someone from afar when
Gun shots hit the car
But when you corner your suspect and he has nowhere to go
Are you going to shoot or beat him just to look good
Or not give a f*ck and light them up
When you tell my story them it’s in memory of all the young bloods
Who’s lives were taken by the government
I’m talking bout Emmett Till
I’m talking bout Ezaell Ford
I’m talking bout Sean Bell
I’m talking bout Trayvon over skittles
I’m talking bout Michael Brown over Cigarillos
When you tell my story tell that people are so quick to react without thinking
Now I want to stop for a second
Imagine being on the other end of the barrel ,
The other end of the gun
With the people who have been fighting for their freedom since day 1
Who cares who ain’t on our side we on our own
Cause all of the crap we have been through is genocide
When you tell my story tell that we are stressing, protesting, unity is a blessing
It’s a slow process because there are a lot of rotting eggs in the crows nest
When you tell my story tell that we keep our hands up high and screaming for justice
We need justice, justice yeah, we need justice here
The price of your life, Uncle Sam wants a slice
We never getting ahead might as will give up your heart
Now take look into what they had to go through every day
When you tell my story imagine being in their skin and take a look in their lives
The same person that you hate so much and look down upon
Now you’re in their shoes
Homey your old life is gone
Now you’re walking the same walk as them
Now you’re talking the same talk as them
Listen to the sirens on police cars ringing
Got gun shots going everywhere not knowing if it will be you
Next going to the kingdom of God
Or a “big giant teddy bear” like Michael Brown.
When you tell my story.
***
By Jordan Dupea
Oscar Grant
Write that I, Oscar Grant, was 22
On January 1st, of 2009 the world changed
I was shot and killed
Murdered by a cop
Write that he made a mistake
A big mistake
Grabbed his gun instead of his taser
Making a shot not a zap
He took my life
When you run this story
Write that my mother told the press
“They took the most precious thing in the world to me,
my only child.”
When the shooter claimed,
“I thought he was going for my gun”
Write that I was hanging with my friends
unarmed and cooporating
Forced on my stomach and handcuffed
Shot in the back in front of a MAX full of people
National story here we come
Write that people became scared
lives were changed
Write that my daughter is going to have a life without her father
My nine year old daughter, Tatiana
Write that my mom will live without her son
My beautiful mother, Wanda
Write that Michael Brown is involved
That he too was shot and killed
Murdered by a police man
The community became outraged
Many people were arrested
This is for my brothers
For African Americans around the world
This is for Oscar Grant who was shot unarmed and cooperating
This is for Emmett Till who was killed for whistling at a white woman
This is for Trayvon Martin who was shot while talking to his girlfriend
Write that he spent less than a year in jail
Johannes Mehserle
Now walking in the streets
A free man
A threat to African Americans
Write that I, Oscar Grant, was 22
On January 1st, of 2009 the world changed
I was shot and killed
Murdered by a cop
***
By Ole Arnston
The town of Ferguson in Missouri had an experience that turned the town upside down and put the country on edge for weeks and months to come.
We had an unarmed teen named Michael Brown that was shot in the middle of the street.
We had to watch a police officer shoot him 6 times and just leave.
We had to see Mike dead on the ground for 4 hours and no one do anything about it.
We watched as the townspeople became enraged over the issue.
We watched as the media fled to our town to watch the war going on.
We watched as our city streets became a battleground.
We watched as all our credibility was destroyed because of one incident.
Write that I Michael’s mother “Want actions, not words.”
Write that I Michael’s father “Don’t want violence, because Mike wouldn’t want that.”
Write that I Mike’s good friend watched him get shot by officer Darren Wilson.
We felt reminded of Money down in the South and how it was the start of a consistent thing.
We felt the pain of every death from every police authorized shooting like Trayvon.
We felt as if we had to retaliate to get back for everything that happened to Oscar and everyone else’s in the past.
We felt like all we would be remembered by is Mike Brown and now all we are remember for is looting and fighting in the city.
Right now we feel as if we have our hands up and the whole country is about to shoot us down.
Right now all we want is justice and if we don’t get that in this case they country will remember us by our actions.
Right now we are still protesting, and we are getting beaten by the police.
Later we will be known for the good or bad by the country.
Later we will be known for making this stand.
Later we will be remembered for starting a civil rights movement.
***
By Garrett Neuman
When you tell my story I want you to feel what I felt
“I’m still dreaming a little bit. But, not getting a phone call for the last few weeks, so it’s kind of coming to a sense of I am not going to hear that voice again,” said Michael Brown Sr.
When you tell my story “I challenge you to use your talents to
Speak up, and don’t you ever let them silence you,” said Lesley McSpadden.
Because actions speak louder than words, that’s what I heard
Shot down with his hands up,
left in the road.
When you tell my story I want everyone to see, that the police had smiles like one-way barbed wire, not meant to keep us out, but to keep us in.
In riot gear,
ready to incite rage,
as if each message board is a stage,
where you recite hostility,
turning freedom of speech into freedom of cruelty.
Such as Emmett Till, Martin Luther King, and Trayvon Martin faced.
When you tell my story I want you to know
this isn’t cute, isn’t funny, you turn beauty into hatred
this isn’t cute, isn’t funny we arent you’re bowling alley and we’re not the pins.
When you tell my story
I want you to know
that we want to turn the pain, sadness and death, into peace.
For everything
to be back the way it was
before that dreadful day on that street corner.
***
By Alex Pereira
Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr.
Write that we are very loving parents. We are unlike
most parents. We lost something special: our son.
Most parents don’t know how we feel
We feel we let him down and we let ourselves down.
Write that who would be able to look at
such a young kid unable to
resort to a different way
but shoot him not once not twice but six times.
We all know that’s not right.
Why lie about something that
hurts other people around him?
You caused more pain to
us than to Michael.
Darren Wilson what are you hiding?
Write that he’s a liar. He is a killer. How do you sleep at night
knowing you’re a killer? How can anyone sleep after seeing
my cold lifeless baby that you so cold heartedly
left in the streets for everyone to see? What do you want:
an award for most times shooting a person?
Write that you won that award, that’s for sure.
This goes to every cop. Think about the parents, the family.
Think about Mamie Till when she heard that her baby,
Emmett Till, was brutally murdered.
I bet you she could
not think.
I was in shock, unable to think.
Emmett was 14
write that no child should ever
have to feel scared in their life
I just feel scared for every other child
in this world and I even know that’s not all right
these are just
words
that should make you think
about what you do
you hurt me and his dad
we loved him
what if you had a child taken away.
When you tell our story read this and feel my anger and pick up on that.
I pray that
Michael sits beside God and that Darren Wilson gets fired.
He doesn’t deserve anything
he doesn’t deserve pennies for Gods sake.
I know it’s
not right to ever wish this upon
someone but I am breaking that rule and I am doing it.
Trust me, would you want your dead child going down as a criminal?
He shouldn’t be remembered as a criminal.
We should remember him as a loving child, a child that was almost a man,
a child who loved his family, and a
child who did not deserve to die.
When you tell our story explain why I wore a shirt
that said “No justice. No peace.” It was because
“My son don’t have justice and we don’t have no peace.
If he has no justice, we won’t get no peace.”
Write that I am not happy because I saw my
wife break down crying during our
interview and she said,
“I’m gonna be okay, but right now I’m not.”
***
