Category: Jefferson City News Tribune

Missouri Black Caucus responds to Ferguson protesters’ demand for change

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Jefferson City News Tribune | Nov 26, 2014

When state Rep. Courtney Allen Curtis heard the St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, he was standing outside the Ferguson Police Department among a crowd of disappointed protesters.

The crowd heard “four supposed shots that were fired” after Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch made the announcement Monday night, Curtis, D-Ferguson, said.

He watched as protesters began to move toward the police. Some chanted and urged peaceful protest. Others began overturning a police vehicle, looting, rioting and setting fire to businesses. Several were hit with tear gas. In the end, 61 were arrested throughout the night.

Curtis said the protesters were expressing mounting frustration with a legal system infused with institutionalized racism. His constituents are demanding change, he said, and legislators in Missouri’s Black Caucus are determined to deliver it in the upcoming legislative session.

“People protest in different ways for a variety of different reasons,” Curtis said, explaining why some in the crowd resorted to violence. “The non-violence movement brought some change, but that change wasn’t permanent. … So if you make a bigger spectacle of it, then it will bring more attention and force change.”

Rep. Brandon Ellington, chair of the Black Caucus, didn’t condone the rioting, either, but he tried to explain why the protesters turned to arson and looting.

“When you’ve got people who are feeling overtly oppressed, then they act out with the only means they can,” Ellington, D-Kansas City, said.

Caucus members were as disappointed as their constituents by the grand jury’s decision, but they were not surprised.

“However, I am extremely surprised with the prosecutor’s tone,” Ellington said about McCulloch.

Ellington was especially taken aback that McCulloch cast blame on the media and witnesses, instead having “no blame for the officer that was involved in the shooting.”

Members of the caucus have already begun to address their constituents’ disillusionment.

Even before Monday night’s news conference, Rep. Karla May, D-St. Louis and vice chair of the Black Caucus, and Rep. Sharon Pace, D-St. Louis, met with Ferguson Mayor James Knowles, City Manager John Shaw and City Councilman Mark Byrne to consider possible reforms.

The group discussed legislation that caucus members plan to pre-file Dec. 1, including bills that would require police officers to wear body cameras and to participate in psychological testing and diversity and sensitivity training, Pace said.

In addition, they talked about incorporating a restorative justice plan that would allow adults charged with minor violations to participate in community service rather than pay fines. That plan would include some of those arrested during the Ferguson protests.

“We got feedback from both sides, and I think the meeting went very well as far as (Ferguson city officials) being receptive to what we were discussing,” Pace said.

Caucus members are aware the bills won’t see swift and easy passage through the legislature.

“The question is, can we come up with something that the majority party can get along with? Because they’re largely from rural areas, so they don’t have the same concerns,” Curtis said. “There’s a lot of strategizing taking place, a lot of conversations being had.”

Ultimately, members of the caucus hope that whatever reform they can achieve will lead to greater stability and equality in Missouri.

“I just hope for peace,” state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, said. She learned that rioters burned down an office where she teaches civic engagement classes twice a week in Ferguson.

What’s most important, Chappelle-Nadal said, is that Missouri implements “systematic change” that transforms “institutional prejudice, which is penetrated throughout state government and other institutions.”

Black Caucus: Activating Guard stirring anxiety

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Jefferson City News Tribune | Nov 19, 2014

Gov. Jay Nixon’s decision to declare a state of emergency and activate the National Guard has stirred anxiety surrounding anticipation of a grand jury’s verdict in the death of a Ferguson teen, the chairman of the Missouri Black Caucus said Tuesday.

The governor’s announcement Monday came ahead of the grand jury’s decision on whether to indict white police officer Darren Wilson, who killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August in Ferguson. Since the shooting, demonstrators have taken to Ferguson streets, protesting police violence and Brown’s death.

During the fallout in August, police were criticized for using tear gas and military-grade equipment while some protestors turned to rioting. Nixon called upon the National Guard to quell the unrest.

On Monday, Nixon said he activated the Guard before the jury’s announcement in order to prepare for “any contingency that might arise.” He justified his decision with what he called “two pillars”: to keep the public safe and to protect constitutional rights.

“It (Nixon’s declaration) definitely increases anxiety, no ifs, ands or buts about it,” caucus leader Rep. Brandon Ellington said Tuesday. “It’s concerning because obviously even the governor feels that the police department in Ferguson is incapable of keeping the public peace and protecting people’s rights.”

Other members of the caucus said they are skeptical about whether the National Guard can protect public safety and constitutional rights.

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal represents Missouri’s 14th district, where Ferguson is located. Since Nixon’s announcement, she said she has received numerous phone calls, emails, tweets and Facebook messages from residents of the district in response to Nixon’s decision.

“According to my constituents, who I’ve been on the ground with since day one, they have absolutely zero faith in the governor because of the multiple mistakes he made in the whole aftermath after Mike Brown was killed by Darren Wilson,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “He (Nixon) is focusing on the unrest instead of focusing on the fact that people are hurting, and we have a problem when it comes to police brutality.”

Ellington said he wished the governor had taken a more diplomatic approach by engaging the community through conversation.

“Rioting and protests historically is the voice of the voiceless,” Ellington said. “People start rioting and protesting when people feel like their voices aren’t being heard. People feel like they don’t have any due process under the law.

“Sometimes you can alleviate the situation by actually talking to people, actually treating people with respect and decency,” he said.

On the day Nixon declared the state of emergency, the Black Caucus called for Ferguson to establish a restorative justice plan in response to the fines and arrests of protesters over the past three months.

Through restorative justice, those accused of crimes make restitution to society through community service or other productive functions rather than just serving a sentence or paying a fine.

“People have the right to protest. People have the right to voice their opinion. People have the right to peaceably assemble,” Ellington said, referring to the non-violent protestors and members of the press who have been arrested in Ferguson. “And the government should not deny people these rights … and if you give them fines for trying to exercise their constitutionally protected rights, that’s wrong.”

On Monday, the Black Caucus sent out letters to Ferguson city officials, including the mayor, city council members and the local prosecutor, asking them to meet with the Caucus regarding protesters’ fines. Ellington hopes they can come to a solution, perhaps by replacing fines with required community service.

According to Ellington, they have already received some positive reactions from city council members.

The Black Caucus is still discussing what legislation it plans to push in the upcoming legislative session. But Ellington is already determined to re-file House Bill 1699, which would require police to wear video cameras with their uniforms.

He filed the bill in the last legislative session, but it did not pass the House.

“With the wake of what happened in Ferguson, I think it is something that is extremely needed,” Ellington said. “Had we had that law in place, and the law enforcement officers were required to wear audio and video equipment, it wouldn’t be a question what happened.”

Ellington plans to file the bill Dec. 1, the first day legislators can pre-file bills for the upcoming session.

Hispanic ministry celebrating 15 years in Jefferson City

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Jefferson City News Tribune | Oct 25, 2014

Divine inspiration can appear in strange places.

Sister Peggy Bonnot found hers in a hair salon in 1998. Her hairdresser shared how she had found a Hispanic girl about 3 years old outside her office the previous day. The child was wandering alone on the sidewalk.

The lost child could not speak English, so with the Spanish the hairdresser could remember from living in San Diego, she helped the girl find her home and mother.

As Bonnot listened to the hairdresser’s story, she came to a realization: a Hispanic community was sprouting in Jefferson City.

A few months later, Monsignor Don Lammers, then a priest at St. Peter Catholic Church, announced the parish would be ordering Spanish ritual books for Spanish-language masses.

“I told him I was interested in that because the foundation of my community was from San Antonio, Texas, and we have a whole province of sisters in Mexico,” Bonnot said. “I felt like that was a direct call to our community. So I talked to two more sisters … and the three of us got together, and we wrote a grant. And the rest is pretty much history.”

Bonnot and two other Sisters of the Charity of the Incarnate Word founded El Puente in 1999. Today, the ministry will celebrate 15 years of service.

El Puente, the Spanish word for “bridge,” is an apt name. It aims to help 700-800 Spanish-speaking families bridge the gap between the two worlds of Latin America and the United States, said Bonnot, who is now executive director of the ministry.

When El Puente began, it offered Spanish Masses to a modest 100 families in Jefferson City and California, Missouri. Families immigrated to Missouri from numerous countries, including Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. According to Bonnot, they left home countries with a dearth of opportunity but, often, an excess of violence.

“When I was studying Spanish in Mexico, at that time the median age was 19. And so they needed a million new jobs every year to provide for their citizens. So the opportunity was just not there in many instances,” said Bonnot, who studied with a language immersion program in Guadalajara in 2000.

Immigrants came to Missouri to find peace and calm, and El Puente was happy to help.

Within the first year, the organization not only facilitated Spanish Masses, but it responded to calls to help immigrants with medical and legal appointments. Soon enough, El Puente offered services in immigration work, language tutoring, mentoring, helping with social and economic needs, and sponsoring traditional celebrations.

These days, El Puente has a staff of six and several volunteers. They’ve moved into a renovated house on McCarty Street, decorated with Peruvian paintings and portraits Our Lady of Guadalupe sitting atop the fireplaces.

In August, El Puente officially added “Hispanic Ministry” to the end of its name and became a registered non-profit with the state of Missouri.

“I want El Puente to continue to be that bridge for people, to help people to grow to independence, so they can navigate on their own, and so they can fulfill their dreams,” Bonnot said.