ARCC student visits Ferguson. What she finds surprises and inspires her.

Sarah Strubel, Staff Writer

Last May, I travelled to St Louis, Missouri to attend a conference. While in town, I had some free time to explore the city. I never planned on visiting Ferguson because I didn’t know it was close to St Louis. I had no idea it was only 20 minutes away from the city.

My first night in St Louis, I ran into a Black Lives Matter protest. I saw some messages that some protesters had written on the concrete in a park near the Gateway Arch. Shortly after that, I ran into the actual protesters. They were peaceful, with police officers looking on. I wasn’t able to stay and watch for long, but snapped some photos.

My aunt, who came on the trip with me, then mentioned that Ferguson was close by. I immediately felt I had to go there. My brother and her didn’t initially want to visit, but I talked them into it. I told them I wanted to see what it was like for myself. I wanted to get a feel for the town, talk to people, and take pictures.

When I arrived in Ferguson, I was surprised to find that it was a quiet and average town. I had thought that it would be loud and dangerous. In reality, most of the damage from the unrest was cleaned up.

Since the streets were quiet, I wasn’t able to find anyone to talk to, until I visited a store. The store was called I Love Ferguson and was selling Ferguson-themed items such as t-shirts, bumper stickers, and signs. The money from the proceeds was to go to rebuilding the town. I ended up talking to a woman working at this store, and she taught me a lot about Ferguson and the unrest there.

She first shared her personal experience with me, as she had been a resident of Ferguson for several years. She said that Ferguson had always been relatively safe and a town that many chose on purpose. According to her, many people chose to live there for its diversity. She went on to say that most of the protesters causing the damage were not even from Ferguson, but neighboring towns. She did share that during the periods of unrest and violence, she was scared, as she lived close to these protests. She shared that one night her husband and her thought their house would be burned down because of the violence going on outside. This prompted her husband to bring their water hose upstairs and get ready to hose down their home if it was started on fire.

She didn’t dwell on the violence and unrest, though. Despite the fear she had felt in the past months, she was now happy to live in Ferguson. She wanted to help rebuild the city by volunteering for I Love Ferguson, an organization that seeks to support Ferguson. She said she even quit her job at a nearby hospital to volunteer for them.

As I stepped outside after visiting the I Love Ferguson store, I realized this town has what it takes to rebuild itself. A lot of the damage from the unrest was cleaned up and there were beautiful murals on some of the store windows. I am inspired by Ferguson because it has a tight-knit and diverse community of residents who are dedicated to impacting the town in a positive way.

I have come to the conclusion that even though we all have differing opinions about the Michael Brown shooting and the unrest that followed, we can all learn from the town of Ferguson. Ferguson is an inspiration to all.