Billikens: if you or your peers still say, “I support your movement, but don’t agree with the tactics”, you likely still have a burning QuikTrip as the introduction to your Ferguson story. Understand that in order for you to support this movement, to use Dr. King’s words, we need not agree on everything except that you cannot set the “timetable”.  If you think you can support us by altering how we do things, you need to re-evaluate and figure out where you find yourselves.

“Police shot a young black boy.”

When these words left my mom’s mouth on Saturday, Aug. 9, I did not have any serious plans to protest 166 days later. It was a Saturday morning after a long week of job training to be a Resident Advisor. I was tired. I didn’t have any plans for the weekend but to sleep, eat, and rejuvenate with my friends and partner, in preparation for another long, hard week. We were going to do the stuff college-aged students do.

Shortly after hearing that someone had been killed, I called my friends and partner to speak about it, but as I listened I discovered that my friends were already informed and discussing the situation. Social media networks were jammed, and details surrounding the incident kept getting more suspicious. I thought this seemed to be just another incident, like the Trayvon Martin killing.

Curious and uneasy about what was happening with my two friends and partner feeling the same, we wondered whether it would be a good idea to go out to Ferguson. We were not afraid of what could happen to us, but of the unknown. We felt troubled by what we saw on the local news on the activity in the small St. Louis County suburb. This feeling didn’t subside when we finally made an agenda to see everything together; we headed out to Ferguson anxiously. We were unified in that we cared more about seeing  for ourselves. Conversations between my friends and partner that were already happening in-person and on Facebook became our own experiences the next night.

As I reflect on my beginnings, I think about how far behind the United States is, and how much more advanced it could be if  Ferguson Action demands were implemented long ago. These demands speak to at least some of our movement’s present agenda, as well as that of many movements in history. If these items had been in motion before Aug. 9, imaginably, Michael Brown would now be in his second semester of college. “

De-militarization of local law enforcement” across the country prior to Aug. 9, would have deterred  a massive, combat-outfitted police force  from occuping the streets of Ferguson.

By late afternoon Sunday, my friends, partner and I had  made our trip, coordinating our visit and driving out to Ferguson. Along the way, I remember listening to songs, such as Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”. More details of the post-shooting affairs were still isolated to our Facebook timelines, as local news struggled to pick up what was going on. As a generation of Twitter and Facebook users, we are used to sharing and re-tweeting everything instantly, like any other trending topic.

My friends and partner had heard that Ferguson was live with police, activity, and people our age. I was also starting to learn many different background stories. For example, I would hear that people our age were asking established leaders for satisfactory advice, swearing to take justice into their own hands . When established leaders were not in a position to give such mentorship, people our age responded.

As we were arriving in Ferguson, we passed up many entrances that were blocked by police cars signaling with their blinding lights. By the time we navigated around to West Florissant Ave., people were sitting on top of their cars. Vehicles were lined up and down business parking lots on West Florissant. Police presence was prevalent, but disengaged. We could feel the spirit of the atmosphere, and the streets were riled up. The sound of stereos bumping to the likes of N.W.A. and Lil Boosie’s street anthems, the visual of red, black and green colored “Back To Africa” flags, and hordes of people our age filling the streets, set an ambiance we had never felt before. I was happy that we didn’t let our feelings stop us from searching for our own answers together.