The Protester

Who are the people who have taken over Ferguson, protesting the killing of Michael Brown day after day? Meet Frankie. He’s on day 118.

By Raven Rakia

Frankie was volunteering at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park when he heard the news. A group of people came in talking about something that had happened in Ferguson — a boy had gotten shot and his body was still lying in the street. By around 11 p.m., the 24-year-old found himself on West Florissant Avenue “at least ’bout 4,000 people,” he says. “Upset, outraged over them not releasing the officer name, the information, or anything.”

For Frankie, what happened in Ferguson was a boiling point after the way he’s been treated his entire life: “This time in particular…it opened [my] eyes before it even hit world media or anything. There was enough people down there tired and frustrated over police brutality. I went through police brutality at a young age…and as I’m growing up now I’m still going through it with them putting their hands on me, lying on me, me going to jail for something I didn’t do.”