3 Questions with Derek Laney About Ferguson/October
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1. LEeM: What is Ferguson/October? And what does this movement hope to accomplish?
Derek Laney: Ferguson October is the idea of a coalition of organizations, (Organization for Black Struggle, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, Veterans for Peace, and others,) standing in support of justice for Mike Brown, justice for the citizens of Ferguson, and an end to the epidemic of police violence in Black and Brown communities. Since day one of street demonstrations in the wake of the murder of Mike Brown, members of the coalition have been out front providing: bond and legal support for jailed protesters, street medic teams for those shot with rubber bullets and tear gassed, and a safe house/headquarters with a cache of food and medical supplies. From the beginning, the idea was to uplift the voices of the Black youth who courageously faced a militarized police force seeking answers and justice for yet another young Black body sacrificed because of a system that criminalizes Black and Brown people. We hope to gather people around the nation to join us in a weekend of resistance to the state sponsored violence that is repeatedly visited upon Black and Brown communities. We’re hosting a series of public events—marches, convenings, protests with civil disobedience, and panels— to build momentum for a nationwide movement against police violence.
2. LEeM:Why has the artist-activists community so passionately embraced the fight for justice that is taking place in St. Louis and Ferguson, Missouri?
Derek Laney: St. Louis has a tradition of artist activism. As a community organizer with an arts background, I began organizing artists to perform guerrilla theater pieces to take the call for justice outside of the confines of Ferguson. I and many of the artists that I organized with are alumnae of the Regional Arts Commission’s Community Arts Training program that provides training for people who work at the intersection of art and community. We all felt the anger and grief of a community that has lost too many Black lives to a racist criminal justice system. As people of conscience, we could see no alternative to using art to embrace the fight for justice.
3. LEeM:Explain the symbolic meaning of the “Mirrored Casket”? And why was it delivered to the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department?
Derek Laney: The mirrored coffin was the idea of artist, De Andrea Nichols. She told me about her vision after an action at the posh Plaza Frontenac Mall where we did another guerrilla arts piece we dubbed #ChalkedUnarmed. Her vision was of a coffin representing all the Black and Brown lives stolen by state sponsored violence. On Friday night October 10th, we did a candlelight procession from a Dia de los Muertos altar to the Ferguson police department. We designed the coffin with mirror sides and beautifully fractured mirrors on the surface so that we could literally hold it up to police officers and let them see their fractured images staring back at them from a symbol of the death, grief and anger that they spawned. We used it again successfully after the four thousand strong march in downtown St. Louis Saturday morning where we marched to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. An Al Jazeera reporter took a photo of their reflections in the coffin as we stopped in front of officers on our way out.
Derek Laney: Ferguson October is the idea of a coalition of organizations, (Organization for Black Struggle, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, Veterans for Peace, and others,) standing in support of justice for Mike Brown, justice for the citizens of Ferguson, and an end to the epidemic of police violence in Black and Brown communities. Since day one of street demonstrations in the wake of the murder of Mike Brown, members of the coalition have been out front providing: bond and legal support for jailed protesters, street medic teams for those shot with rubber bullets and tear gassed, and a safe house/headquarters with a cache of food and medical supplies. From the beginning, the idea was to uplift the voices of the Black youth who courageously faced a militarized police force seeking answers and justice for yet another young Black body sacrificed because of a system that criminalizes Black and Brown people. We hope to gather people around the nation to join us in a weekend of resistance to the state sponsored violence that is repeatedly visited upon Black and Brown communities. We’re hosting a series of public events—marches, convenings, protests with civil disobedience, and panels— to build momentum for a nationwide movement against police violence.
2. LEeM:Why has the artist-activists community so passionately embraced the fight for justice that is taking place in St. Louis and Ferguson, Missouri?
Derek Laney: St. Louis has a tradition of artist activism. As a community organizer with an arts background, I began organizing artists to perform guerrilla theater pieces to take the call for justice outside of the confines of Ferguson. I and many of the artists that I organized with are alumnae of the Regional Arts Commission’s Community Arts Training program that provides training for people who work at the intersection of art and community. We all felt the anger and grief of a community that has lost too many Black lives to a racist criminal justice system. As people of conscience, we could see no alternative to using art to embrace the fight for justice.
3. LEeM:Explain the symbolic meaning of the “Mirrored Casket”? And why was it delivered to the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department?
Derek Laney: The mirrored coffin was the idea of artist, De Andrea Nichols. She told me about her vision after an action at the posh Plaza Frontenac Mall where we did another guerrilla arts piece we dubbed #ChalkedUnarmed. Her vision was of a coffin representing all the Black and Brown lives stolen by state sponsored violence. On Friday night October 10th, we did a candlelight procession from a Dia de los Muertos altar to the Ferguson police department. We designed the coffin with mirror sides and beautifully fractured mirrors on the surface so that we could literally hold it up to police officers and let them see their fractured images staring back at them from a symbol of the death, grief and anger that they spawned. We used it again successfully after the four thousand strong march in downtown St. Louis Saturday morning where we marched to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. An Al Jazeera reporter took a photo of their reflections in the coffin as we stopped in front of officers on our way out.
