Congregations Unite for First Annual Youth Affirmation Worship Service and Youth Justice Day of Action
Friday, August 9, 2024 marked the 10th Angelversary of Michael Brown Jr. His tragic death and the Ferguson Uprising shook America to its core, causing pivotal shifts within communities around the world. In honor of his life, The Michael Brown Sr. Chosen For Change Organization (CFC) partnered with Metropolitan Congregations United of St. Louis (MCU) and St. John’s Church UCC - The Beloved Community to call for all faith and community leaders to participate in two events: the First Annual Michael Brown Jr. Youth Affirmation Worship Service on Sunday, August 11th at St. John’s Church and the Youth Justice Day of Action on Monday, August 12th at the Deaconess Foundation.
First Annual Michael Brown Jr. Youth Affirmation Worship Service- August 11th, 2024 at St. John's UCC
The First Annual Michael Brown Jr. Youth Affirmation Worship Service was designed to recognize and honor the gifts, talents, and contributions of youth in our congregations and communities to encourage and empower them. The service asked faith leaders across the region to affirm that their congregation will be supportive during moments of celebration, as well as in times of trouble, including if youth become involved with school disciplinary issues or the juvenile court system. St. John's Church was filled almost to capacity with paintings and murals of Michael Brown Jr. located all around the Church Sanctuary. Attendees prayed for all youth in attendance aged 5 to 21 years. Testimonies were provided by Brittany Ferrell-Young and the siblings of Michael Brown Jr., Rev. Michelle Higgins provided a Youth Affirmation Prayer, and Michael Brown Sr. ended the service with a Call to Action.
Upon the conclusion of the service, Demaris Ridgell, MCU Organizer and lead for the event, shared how “absolutely amazing [it was] to witness” such a powerful service in support of our community youth. He added that “the atmosphere was electric with energy” with the attendance of two powerful pastors, Rev. Starsky Wilson, who provided a powerful prophetic sermon during the service, and Rev. Traci Blackmon, both of which were at the forefront of the 2014 Ferguson Uprising protests. In addition to this event, we received confirmation that five congregations also hosted their own Youth Affirmation Worship Service over the weekend with the support of a Michael Brown Jr. YAWS Toolkit created by MCU’s Clergy Caucus. This event was highlighted in the August 15, 2024 print edition of the STL American (view below).
Youth Justice Day of Action - August 12th, 2024 at Deaconess Foundation
The Youth Justice Day of Action aimed to raise awareness around major concerns of parents of children impacted by school suspensions and detention centers and to call the community to take action via a press conference led by Mr. Michael Brown Sr., Michael Brown Jr.’s father, CFC’s Director, and MCU's new Parent Organizer of the Break the Pipeline Campaign. Michael Sr. called participants to “turn to action asking faith and community leaders across the region to affirm that their congregations and organizations will support youth during times of celebration and trouble.” He emphasized that that involvement was critical when youth are involved in school disciplinary issues or the juvenile court system as both systems are still in great need of reform despite years of exposure to their failures.
Joshua Saleem, staff attorney, Legal Services of Missouri, Education Justice Program agreed citing the numerous programs throughout the region’s school districts that are simply ineffective: “so many programs for diversion and restoration look great on paper but in reality, are so underfunded and understaffed, they tend to do more harm than good.” He added this harm includes alienation of students and families and increases in suspension rates, often folded into zero tolerance of tardies and absences, with absolute lockouts becoming more prevalent than working with individual families to problem solve.
“What does a successful community look like? What drives crime in our communities,” asked Rick Gaines, Chief Juvenile Officer, St. Louis County Family Court. “How can we make our community better, our juvenile system better?” He again committed to working with MCU in a partnership that has spanned nearly 10 years. In that time, changes have occurred in moving more juveniles to restoration programs but there is still a long way to go. “We all must have those hard conversations about what should be done and what is already happening and not happening. We are going to lose our families if we don’t. And then we lose our communities.”
“I have seen too many young Black men lost,” said Pastor Reggie Chandler, Greater Kingdom Church. “That was the impetus for the beginning of my congregation.” He concluded the press conference with a powerful call to action for the community to support the youth and their families. “We know we cannot arrest, jail and detain our way out of the challenges in our communities. We need strong, well-funded public schools. Our children need care and not criminalization.” He lifted up the work of MCU and its commitment to meeting children and their families where they are: the schools, the courtroom, and the detention centers.
Immediately following the press conference, faith leaders took part in a community defense training, also known as participatory defense, developed and created by families of Silicon Valley DeBug’s Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project. The training consists of a community organizing model for people facing charges, their families, and communities to impact the outcome of cases and transform the landscape of power in the court system.
During the training, Rev. Dr. Dietra Wise Baker, Senior Organizer at MCU, educated leaders on the history and background of MCU’s participatory defense task force as the local St. Louis Hub for the National Participatory Defense Network. She also shared that to date, MCU has trained over 40 community and faith leaders to empower families directly impacted by out of school suspensions, arrests, or juvenile court cases. Lastly, Joshua Saleem of Legal Services of Missouri, followed by explaining several factors that funnel children from classrooms to confinement including the non-attendance crisis, the banning of books, and the widening of the racial gap when it comes to suspension and expulsion.
MCU remains committed to reforming the treatment of children and youth in both schools and the juvenile justice system. Our Participatory Defense Meetings occur every Tuesday at 7:30pm on Zoom. For information on the next meeting or to learn more about Community Defense training, contact Demaris Ridgell at 314-367-3484 or demaris@mcustl.com
