Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

altmuslim

Home
Muslim
Ferguson Behind the Scenes – The View from One Local Muslim Journalist/Activist

Ferguson Behind the Scenes – The View from One Local Muslim Journalist/Activist

Last updated on: December 1, 2014 at 3:04 pm by Guest Contributor

Ferguson Behind the Scenes – The View from One Local Muslim Journalist/Activist 2014-12-01T15:04:29-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Umar Lee

photo courtesy of Umar Lee

For weeks on end the talk of the town in the St. Louis Metropolitan area had been guessing the date of the announcement of whether Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson would be indicted or not. Locally the question was simply “when will The Announcement be?”.

The week before the Thanksgiving saw plenty of indicators The Announcement was near. These included a press conference by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and another event where he joined St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley ( all Democrats). School districts in North St. Louis County began giving children additional homework to take home and the general consensus was the announcement would come on the Sunday orMonday of Thanksgiving week. The logic being that if civil-unrest got too bad it was only a three day school week.

That Sunday St. Louis was on pins and needles but the announcement never came. Monday I woke up to news the announcement would be coming that evening. I began to get texts, calls and emails urging safety and the streets and roads were eerily empty.

I decided to go to the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton, MO to hear the news. I was joined in a heavily fortified Clayton by my intended Ezdehar and my good friend and local St. Louis filmmaker Ryan Frank. Clayton was an absolute media circus with the parking lot across from the courthouse full of satellite trucks and a mix of national and local media milling about.

As the press conference from St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCullough (D) began a cell phone was placed next to a bullhorn to amplify to the crowd. Even though I have a press pass only 40 members of the press were credentialed for the press conference.

From the perspective of a Muslim I noted that the sound of the press conference was coming from former Missouri State Representative Yaphet el-Amin and the cell phone being used was from her father Eddie Hasan. As I stood listening to Mcculloch speak behind me were members of the Nation of Islam including Minister Akbar Muhammad the International Representative for Minister Louis Farrakhan.

The Fall Out

The news of the non-indictment didn’t shock me. As a matter of fact not a single person I spoke to in St. Louis beforehand believed an indictment was coming. The Justice for Mike Brown community for one simply didn’t believe Bob Mcculloch at any time gave justice for Mike Brown a serious consideration.

We left Clayton and headed immediately to Ferguson. Within less than one minute from us getting out of my car we were caught in the middle of St. Louis County police firing teargas from one side and protesters throwing bricks from another side. Retreating to safety we were once again hit by teargas as police randomly fired into the crowd. Seeking the safety of an isolated parking lot with only a handful of people we came under direct fire from police (and this was caught on CNN).

With downtown Ferguson in a complete state of mayhem and police agression we headed towards my car to leave. However, near my car a police cruiser had been set on fire and the ammunition that had been left in the car began popping off.

Eventually we got to my car and headed to West Florissant. The stretch of West Florissant through Ferguson is not only heavily African-American but it’s also the section near the Canfield Green apartments and where Mike Brown was killed.

By this time West Florissant was ablaze. Stores were being looted, businesses were being burned, the youth were setting up road blocks and there wasn’t a police officer or National Guard troop in site. A number of the businesses being burned or looted happened to be Muslim owned.

I decided to drive north on West Florissant to check on my brother-in-law’s barbershop and before I could get there two youths jumped on top of my car outside of the Ferguson Walmart. Having made it to the barbershop and seeing it was fine I then drove by my family’s home to check on it.

The next stop was South St. Louis. For those not from the area Ferguson is a northern suburb of St. Louis. The rallies and street actions in North St. Louis County are not limited to the city of Ferguson and most especially include neighbors such as Dellwood, Jennings and Berkeley. South St. Louis actions began with the killing of Vonderrit Myers in the Shaw Neighborhood.

Ferguson and the Shaw/Tower Grove area of South St. Louis are culturally very different. Ferguson like the rest of North St. Louis County is blue-collar, working-class and suburban. Shaw/Tower Grove has a racial mix like Ferguson: but has seen a lot of gentrification, is very liberal, home to a lot of hipsters and people with money and prestige. I personally love both areas ( I grew up north but my mother lived for years in Shaw).

On Burning and Looting

On this night of anger and frustration windows were broken along South Grand in South St. Louis, Highway 44 was shut down, teargas was fired by police, and passions ran high. It was still nowhere near as intense as the actions in North County.

Businesses burning.

I’ve been asked by many people what I think about the burning and looting. It’s not a simple question. First off only a small number of people were involved in those activities. Protesters protecting many businesses and leaders spoke against it. However, allow me to dig a little deeper.

From what I saw most of those involved in the burning and looting were young black males. Few had been to protest rallies since the death of Mike Brown. All they know is they’ve been let down by the system once again and that their voices are not being heard. Couple that with the fact many of the targeted businesses already had poor relations with the community and are viewed as outsiders and you had the recipe for drama. I mourn for family-owned small businesses: but I’ve got a hard time mustering up sympathy for the bloodsuckers at payday loan, rent-to-own, pawn shops and Liquor stores. Or Walmart for that matter.

Let me also make one thing perfectly clear: the looting and burning was allowed to happen. Not one cop stood up to stop it nor were they even in site. Meanwhile the St. Louis County Police and National Guard were strong arming political protesters in downtown Ferguson.

By the time Thanksgiving came I was grateful to be with my family. The movement goes on though. People are still in the streets, actions are ongoing and a new generation of leaders is emerging. These leaders include young Muslims many of whom are at the forefront.

In closing I say this to the Muslim community. The Friday after Thanksgiving a Salafi imam came to a local St. Louis masjid. The imam disparaged protests as haram. I don’t say this as a swipe at Salafis as I know local Salafis who’ve been supportive as have been some national figures such as Omar Suleiman of the alMagrhib Institute. This particular imam reiterated the Saudi position against street protests. The imam was rebutted by local Palestinian-American businessman and activist Zuhdi Masri who spoke in favor of the Justice for Mike Brown movement.

There are two paths we can take. One seeks justice. The other seeks a stability attached to an unjust status-quo.

Umar Lee is a St. Louis-based activist and writer. His writings can be found at umarlee.wordpress.com, on his Amazon author page and in the St. Louis Evening-Whirl. All photos are taken by him.

Previous Post

November 18, 2014

Muslims in Ferguson - On the Ground and Active Since Day One

Next Post

December 5, 2014 The Role of Imams in the American Muslim Community - A Growing Crisis

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Elections 30 Dayd 30 Writers (2017) 30 Days 30 Writers 30 Days 30 Writers (2015) 30 Days 30 Writers (2016) 30 Days 30 Writers (2018) 30 Days 30 Writers 2017 Ali Asadullah Ali Eteraz Alper Bilgili Arthur Richards Asides Asma Uddin Black History Month Briefings Charles Turner Commentary Cyrus McGoldrick Eman H Aly Fatimah Popal Hajj Hajj and Dhul Hijjah Hesham Hassaballa Hisham Hellyer Ibrahim Abusharif Inas Younis Irfan Yusuf Jalal Baig Junaid Afeef Laila Alawa Laila Alwala Mas'ood Cajee Muqtedar Khan Nakia Jackson Newsmakers Parvez Ahmed Podcasts Rabia Chaudry Rafia Zakaria Ramadan Reviews Safiyyah Ally Saud Inam Shahed Amanullah Svend White The Opinionated Oncologist Visions Wajahat Ali Zahed Amanullah Zahir Janmohamed Zainab Khan

Select a Month November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many days between resurrection and Pentecost?

Select your answer to see how you score.

40 days 30 days 50 days 60 days