Editorial: Staff finds ways to move past Ferguson

ECHO staffers, like most St. Louis, have had several disagreements of late, mainly about the decision to not indict former police officer Darren Wilson for the death of Mike Brown.

Sophomores Payton Moreland, Randi McCollum and freshman Bria Lawerance participate in the Dec. 4, walkout. Photo by Aerin Johnson
Sophomores Payton Moreland, Randi McCollum and freshman Bria Lawerance participate in the Dec. 4, walkout. (Photo by Aerin Johnson)

While a few of us have definite opinions, with so much conflicting evidence, including witness testimony and Brown’s autopsy, most of us are unsure about what to think or with whom to agree.

However, we do agree on one thing: We need to move forward.

How to move forward? As a staff we were able to think of a few ideas.

1) We need to focus on improving relationships in St. Louis. As far as we can tell, this incident has only caused people to blame those involved with the case.

We need to talk about Brown’s death with a light of how we can improve the relationships between the police, government and communities in and surrounding St. Louis.

“It’s hard to listen and try to understand each other,” assistant principal John Thomas said. He mentioned several groups like the Ferguson Commission that are working towards this goal of listening.

Another group working for dialogue is “Mother 2 Mother.”

2) As students, when we go into the world, we need to become the people we want to see in the government. Anyone may be in faced with a similar problem to that of the grand jury’s, and if students want to change the world, they need to grow into those shoes. They need to take part in the process and run for offices on local, state and/or federal levels.

3) We can help to rebuild. We can donate to food pantries, help fix the shops that were destroyed and looted, and show the world that we are trying to improve St. Louis.

These are a few ways, but there are so many more out there, and it up to this generation to find them and use those ideas to better the world. Remember, we are the future.

Also read “Town rebuilds after tragedy.”
Also read “Students walk out, school cancelled in aftermath of Ferguson.”

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