Black Lives Matter

Morning Edition traveled to Ferguson and spoke to residents and leaders who have continued pushing for change in the city that was thrust into the national spotlight after the killing of an unarmed 18-year-old.

Civil rights attorney and former South Carolina state representative Bakari Sellers says national police reform is currently dead, but there is hope through voting to change the makeup of Congress.

Little has changed despite protests and petitions calling for the removal of statues and street names that honor people with ties to slavery, genocide and other atrocities.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey made national headlines in June 2020 when they confronted a group of mostly Black protesters who entered their gated community en route to demonstrate in front of the nearby home of a former St. Louis mayor.

Some residents in the city had asked for the bronze depiction of Ninian Edwards to be removed entirely because he owned enslaved people.

A year after George Floyd’s death, in which former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder, activists for racial justice are still calling for cities to redistribute some money earmarked for police departments to mental health and other community services.

St. Louis University is converting its African American Studies program into a full department this fall. Faculty and students have championed the effort since the early 1970s and say it’s a big step for equality.

A controversial bronze statue of Ninian Edwards will, for the time being, remain where it is installed, in a small plaza near Edwardsville's city center. The statue, the plaza and Edwards’ slavery legacy became the focus of protests during the global Black Lives Matter movement this summer.

"I've been told they've been charged with exhibiting a firearm and tampering with evidence," Joel Schwartz, who represents Mark and Patricia McCloskey told NPR.

Hours after someone defaced a remembrance of Breonna Taylor at the St. Louis University clock tower, a group of students presented a list of 11 demands to SLU officials calling for the university to better support students, faculty and workers of color. They want SLU to provide more mental health resources, disarm campus police and fund diverse and inclusive events.