Ferguson

I had meant to add this next post with the last one about St Louis.....but perhaps it deserves its own respectful page anyway....and I normally would not comment or throw in mainstream news, but this one hits too close to home.  Though the Ferguson subject has taken a back seat to Joan Rivers in the last few weeks, it shouldn't be forgotten. 

So the Reeves family, Tim + 3 sisters, Chris, Bev and Jenny were all raised in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson circa 1940-1960's....as well as all the friends we visited in the last blogger post.  Back then it was predominately white with a couple of black neighborhoods around.  Everyone has fond childhood memories of Ferguson in that simple lifestyle of yesteryears....picture Happy Days Cunningham family (not the Beaver Cleavor family, puh-lease). When we asked our Ferguson friends their take on the situation, the responses varied from discussing the facts of the shooting, to the over blown hype by the multitudes of media.

There are little signs in the front yards all over St Louis showing their support for the struggle of their suburban neighbors.  

 





When we were in Boulder in August, we saw protesters on the street corner and yesterday we saw this graffiti  in Burlington, Vermont. 


There are great humane stories that have come out of all this----check out the Huffington Post (thanks Bev for this great article) that the general blood and guts media won't begin to touch.  For example, our St Louis friend, Donna, told us about the Ferguson high school football teams that were invited to practice with the Rams while their schools were shut down.....and there's many more gracious acts on the Ferguson streets.
But all in all, we feel the whole situation is a national problem....some people say:

"We cannot ignore the inequities that persist in our justice system..."  This is the bottom line....the Justice system....and Ferguson is just another reminder....that this is more than just a local problem.