On August 9^th, 2014 Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead by former Ferguson Missouri Police Officer Darren Wilson. This death sparked a national movement of reevaluating police brutality, race, and several systemic issues in American government. Now, a year later, we reflect on how the death of a boy who had a whole life ahead of him has shaken his community and a nation.

Open and Honest Talks of Racial Issues

This change still has a very long way to go 'till equality for all African Americans is seen, but over the last year there has been a major tide change amongst many of those no longer standing for racial injustices. Ferguson’s tragedy lit a spark to stop America from turning a blind eye and clearly seeing these deeply rooted issues that stem back hundreds of years. No one should feel unsafe in America because of the color of their skin.

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New Leadership

The city has a new chief of police, city manager and municipal judge. These new elected officials are African American, replacing the previous officials who were all white.

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Body Cameras

All officers in the Ferguson Police Dept. are now required to wear body cameras. This has become not just a mandate in Ferguson, but across the nation, as more cities are making this a major requirement. These cameras proved how big of an impact they have when helping charge an officer in the killing of Sam DuBose on July 19^th, 2015.

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Rebuilding Businesses

The business district that was at the center of last year's occasional violent protests is slowly rebuilding. The St. Louis County Economic Development (STL) Partnership says that a total of 11 buildings were burned in the aftermath, and 250 businesses were damaged by the protests and looting. Several fundraisers and campaigns have sprung up over the year to help get these small business owners back on their feet, and help create a safe and flourishing city.

via ibtimes

#BlackLivesMatter

This hashtag, though appearing after the killing of Trayvon Martin, really took forefront on social media after the death of Michael Brown. In my opinion, this is one of the most important social media hashtags in history. This hashtag has allowed hundreds of thousands to reach across all age and race demographics to clearly state they’ve had enough with racism in our society. And it’s not just #Blacklivesmatter, but also #AmINext and #IfTheyGunnedMeDown that are among the many hashtags that helped feed a movement of pointing out deeply rooted racial issues in America.

via [bellanaija]

It’s no secret that in modern society the trend of tragedy bringing about change is a prevalent one. Through the death of a teenage boy, who had his whole life ahead of him, a nation and world were put under the spotlight to illicit change and help bring about a better society of equality for all.