The Movement

The killing of George Floyd at the knee of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day 2020 sparked international outrage and protests. Protests have continued in a number of cities across the nation, including Columbia, as additional names have been added to the list of victims. In Columbia, protests have been organized by a number of groups, including the People's Defense, Black Lives Matter, Mizzou students, and Faith Voices. Allied groups such as the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the John Brown Gun Club have also played a supporting role. Although not the first, one of the most infamous incidents of police brutality against Black bodies to be captured on video occurred March 1991, as George Holliday filmed the savage beating of Rodney King by the Los Angeles Police Department. Initially, none of the four officers involved were held accountable, sparking six days of riots in which 63 people were killed and thousands injured. Later, after a federal case, two of the officers served prison terms. This was perhaps the first police brutality incident captured on film that caused widespread awareness and protest. It would not be the last.

The ubiquitous nature of cell phone cameras has finally resulted in a reckoning for the nation. We can no longer pretend the problem of police violence against Black bodies does not exist. We have seen it with our own eyes. We have all witnessed the violence firsthand as Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Jacob Blake, and many, many more have experienced undue pain or death at the hands of those sworn to protect. Has this changed the decades-long fight. Will the new, readily available tools for recording misdeeds finally create the sustained outrage needed to compel real change?

In the following video we hear the perspectives of three, long time Columbia activists. Mary Ratliff, former State President and current President of the Columbia chapter of NAACP; Rev. C.W. Dawson, local minister and activist, and Jeff Stack with the Fellowship of Reconciliation talk about their own experiences with activism, what might be different now, and offer some words of encouragement and advice to the next generation of the movement to end racial injustice.