#Ferguson and Gaza-Awakening a Sleeping Giant?

By Felicia M Davis (@feliciamdavis or fmd@dogonvillage.com )-Last night I went to sleep pleased that my daughter, a mature Howard University student, traveled to Ferguson to stand for justice. She arrived safely with four friends and attended what she referred to as the usual “Negro Church Rally”—talking, singing then marching. Later that night, and long before the midnight curfew, she reports that the police started advancing toward the protestors. When the police put on their gas masks, the students were prepared with homemade masks created according to instructions provided by Palestinian youth.

Occupation is a global phenomenon from the perspective of youth. A student of non-violent civil disobedience, she is guided by our family motto—“Be Intelligent.” Still it is amazing to learn that Howard students identify with youth in Gaza and bizarre to think that students are sharing proper preparation for protesting police injustice.

The thought that police militarization in Ferguson has connected African American youth with youth in Palestine, and more specifically Gaza, could be reduced to Twitter communication for readers of this blog. For me it is a sign that military occupation, excessive force and the killing of unarmed civilians unites youth globally.

I trust my daughter’s eye-witness account of the events of last night. She assures me that there were no shots fired by protestors, there were no Molotov cocktails, instead it was the police advancing on the protestors and shooting teargas that caused the chaos. Learning that youth in Gaza taught youth in America how to make a gas mask is a profound revelation that places Ferguson in a global context.

Photo by: Ryan J. Reilly @ryanjreilly