FERGUSON, Mo. – It has been 10 years since Michael Brown Jr. was shot and killed in Ferguson, sparking national attention. His father, Michael Brown Sr., sat down to discuss the memories surrounding that day in 2014 and the impact he’s looking to make on other’s lives to honor his son.
“It’s been hard. I’m grateful for my other children who bring me life, bring me joy, (but) he will never be forgotten,” he said. “(I miss) his laugh, his smile, his smell, his silliness, you know. (He was) a jokester—a big jokester.”
Since Brown Jr.’s death, a foundation has been set up in his name to support families who are processing the same unthinkable. When asked what has changed in Ferguson over the last 10 years, Brown Sr. said the faces have changed.
“The mayor’s face and the (police) chief’s face. You can build and beautify a city to try and forget what happened, but it still happened,” Brown Sr. said.
As the years go on, Brown Sr. is still processing everything. He says other people may forget about it and move on, but he won’t.
“I’m still working on me. I have a therapist…it’s a life sentence. I’m probably going to forever feel sad because of what happened to my family. But I know I got other work to do. I don’t let that beat me up and I do the work out of the memory of my son,” he said.
