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Ferguson at Ten

How the police killing of Michael Brown propelled a decarceral movement

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the police murder of Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Of the essays that we receive at Inquest, nearly half of their first drafts make mention of Brown’s death and the uprising that followed. Inasmuch as present-day prison abolition has something like an origin story, it is clear from this fact that its narrative runs through Ferguson.

In this collection of reflections, essays, and poetry, we look to the legacy of Ferguson as we continue to envision a world with true safety for all—and not more policing, prisons, or other forms of social control.

—August 2024

Image: Jamelle Bouie/Wikimedia Commons/Inquest


Editors’ Introduction

The Ferguson Decade

A decade on, Ferguson remains central for those working toward a world free from the harms of policing and prisons.

Adam McGee, Andrew Crespo & Premal Dharia

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Activists Reflect

The World Ferguson Made

Three activists from ‘the Michael Brown generation’ reflect on what changed in St. Louis after the uprisings—and what didn’t.

Walter Johnson, Derecka Purnell, Tef Poe & Blake Strode

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Fines and Fees

Ferguson’s Pound of Flesh

Ten years ago, the killing of Michael Brown exposed a system that extracts what little wealth marginalized people have. That system is still here.

Alexes Harris

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Pattern-or-Practice

A Pattern of Injustice

The Ferguson report was a landmark. But the Department of Justice needs to do much more to empower communities in the fight to end police abuse.

Christy Lopez

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Coming of Age

Growing Up Post-Ferguson

I was the same age as Michael Brown when he was killed. The uprising set me on the path to abolition.

Rachel Rood-Ojalvo

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‘Empirical’ reflections

Poems on Policing

Poetry has the power to help us grow past the stale and rote ways of thinking about safety that tend to characterize policy discussions.

Monica Bell

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