On lack of Racial Equity progress, St. Louis residents had a lot to say — Read what they shared.

Attendees at a Forward Through Ferguson Town Hall share their insights on the success and difficulties of working towards an equitable St. Louis.

In August of 2018, we released the inaugural State of the Report (SOTR), a comprehensive assessment of regional progress towards implementing the Ferguson Commission’s 47 signature priority calls to action. Envisioned in our #STL2039 Action Plan, the SOTR was intended to be a tool to help the region celebrate success, catalyze progress, and foster accountability around the mission to advance Racial Equity. Soon after its release, we took it on the road to share it with the community; hear their response to our findings; and deepen our understanding of what they were experiencing, how they wanted to engage with us, and how we could improve the next SOTR.

Over the fall of 2018, we engaged with nearly 100 community members from 33 zip codes across three town halls throughout the region (Indian Trails Library in Vinita Park in September, O’Fallon Park Rec Complex in October, and Thomas Dunn Learning Center in October. Thanks to our community partners for hosting us!). We posed four questions to the community in these meetings. Here’s what we heard:

Q1: What is your reaction to the results of the State of the Report and progress on Racial Equity?

1. Political Adversities: Community members felt strongly that many local politicians and the Missouri state legislature were “holding us back” from advancing Racial Equity. We found a general sense of “frustration” about the “hypocrisy” of local politics.
2. Hunger for More Detail: Attendees wanted the SOTR to go beyond “providing data” and also feature clear examples of “how change is happening” including examples of current Racial Equity work and how to get involved.
3. Lack of Progress amidst Ever-Present Urgency: Community members suggested a need for immediate change stating things like “the clock is ticking.” Many suggested that their “everyday realities” and the “status quo” reflect how they see a lack of progress in their daily lives and the need for immediate change.
4. Resiliency: Amongst these attendees, we found there was no absence of resiliency in their hearts, their efforts, and commitment to create equitable change. They indicated, despite the barriers, “we must keep going!”

Q2: What would it look like for you to see progress on the report and Racial Equity in your daily life?

1. Better Schools: Rather than the good schools “being in just one place,” community members spoke of improvement as schools having better funding, more emotional and psychological support for students, better school outcomes, and culturally representative curriculums.
2. Financial Opportunity: Attendees called for a living wage, investment in communities and neighborhoods, accessible mortgages, and lower levels of poverty.
3. Positive Policing: Many described a desire for relationships with law enforcement that were centered around trust and confidence rather than deep fear, wariness, or anger. They envisioned a future of policing in which officers were protectors whose actions were shaped by “random acts of kindness.”

Q3: Do you think FTF’s #STL2039 Action plan will get us closer to Racial Equity?

Community members identified several concerns and strengths about forward movement on our #STL2039 Action Plan:

1. Need for Political/Policy Backing: The issue of politics was seen as a major barrier to progress. One member suggested, “the plan is doable and good as long as there’s authority and buy in to do it!” One of the most repeated suggestions for moving closer to progress was through a sustainable “national and state” political push to achieve our goals.
2. Need to Resource Racial Equity Work: Community members spoke of the need for funding as a “fundamentally important component” to the Action Plan’s success. Many concluded that to undo systemic oppression there is a significant need for financial support.
3. Awareness/publicity: Community members emphasized the need to create awareness about the overall impacts of Racial Equity work. They emphasized that the benefits and the burden of doing this work are not limited to Ferguson, but rather, have an impact on the entire St. Louis region.
4. Radical Collaboration: Collaboration was seen as one of Racial Equity work’s greatest strengths — we must emphasize it “for real and faster progress!” Together, as we “build our base,” our work is strengthened. More simply, if “our work lives in lots of places, it isn’t reversed in one election!”

Q4: How do you want to be involved & engaged in systems change work? What resources, programs, or knowledge would help you get involved?

1. Community Involvement: Community members expressed an interest in systems change work, however, they requested more public venues revolving around promoting community-level discussions, discussing specifics of the Report, information on how communities can engage, and facilitated conversations on Racial Equity and systems change. Media was also mentioned as another way to engage communities in the work being done.
2. Educational Resources: There were three specific resources the community requested of us: clear directions on how to get involved; educational resources for communities, organizations, and individuals to engage in systems change; and opportunities for White people to grow in their understanding of biases and whiteness.

Moving Forward

We are taking all of this feedback as well as input from dozens of community partners across many sectors to imagine what the next iteration of the State of the Report will look like. We look forward to sharing our work with the region in August of 2019.

Micah Prior is a State of the Report Fellow at Forward Through Ferguson and a Masters of Social Work student at the George Warren Brown School at Washington University.

Karishma Furtado is the Data & Research Catalyst at Forward Through Ferguson, project lead for the State of the Report, and a Ph.D. candidate in Public Health Sciences at the George Warren Brown School at Washington University.