Ferguson marks 10 years since Michael Brown's death. While there's some progress, challenges persist
Michael Brown once told his father the “world is going to know my name,” words Michael Brown Sr. still takes to heart.
Friday marks 10 years since the 18-year-old was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, turning the St. Louis suburb into the focal point of the national reckoning with the historically tense relationship between U.S. law enforcement and Black people.
Brown’s death catalyzed massive change in Ferguson. In 2014, every city leader was white in the majority-Black city. Today, the mayor, police chief, city attorney and other leaders are Black. The mostly-white police force of a decade ago now has more officers that are Black than white.
The municipal court system that once brought in millions of dollars in fines and fees, often for relatively minor traffic offenses — paid mostly by poor residents — now collects only a fraction of that.
