Please add your voice to the growing movement of parents who say enough is enough! Let's stand together for Leslie McSpadden, mother of Mike Brown, and all families seeking justice: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/BlackYouthMatter_JusticeMikeBrown/ 

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Remember the summer of your high school graduation? Remember all of the excitement, hopes, and dreams for the future? 

Eighteen-year-old Michael Brown had dreams too. Dreams that he will now never be able to realize. Instead, his mother, Leslie McSpadden is left only with memories because two days before the start of Michael's freshman year at college, he was gunned down by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer. Michael was unarmed. 

This has to stop. As mothers, Michael's story hits us hard. We should never have to fear that our children could come to harm at the hands of those charged with protecting them.

*Join MomsRising and ColorOfChange as we stand with the parents of Michael Brown in calling for Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to vigorously investigate and prosecute those involved in his murder: 

http://action.momsrising.org/sign/BlackYouthMatter_JusticeMikeBrown/

Eyewitnesses say Michael yelled, "I don't have a gun, stop shooting," while his hands were raised in the air. His family and community members are calling this an execution. 

Racially-motivated police violence has no place in law enforcement. Yet the St. Louis Post Dispatch's editorial board found that all too often racial profiling is done by Missouri law enforcement and the stats are getting worse over time.  Here's what the St. Louis Post Dispatch's editorial board wrote:   

"Last year, for the 11th time in the 14 years that data has been collected, the disparity index that measures potential racial profiling by law enforcement in the state got worse. Black Missourians were 66 percent more likely in 2013 to be stopped by police, and blacks and Hispanics were both more likely to be searched, even though the likelihood of finding contraband was higher among whites.

…In Ferguson, the city where Michael died, the police in 2013 pulled over blacks at a 37 percent higher rate than whites compared to their relative populations. Black drivers were twice as likely to be searched and twice as likely to be arrested compared to white drivers." 

The systemic abuse of Black communities by the police in Missouri, and across our nation, must end and perpetrators must be held accountable.

*Enough is enough. Please join us in calling on federal and city officials to rigorously investigate, prosecute, and fire all officers involved in this case and others like it throughout the country. 

http://action.momsrising.org/sign/BlackYouthMatter_JusticeMikeBrown/

On Monday, Michael Brown's parents had planned to drop him off at a nearby technical college for the start of his freshman year. Instead, the family is making burial arrangements. Now Michael's story joins the growing narrative of lives cut down by those entrusted with protecting and serving. In less than a year, there have been a slew of unarmed African American and Latino youth and men killed by police, including: 

• Eric Garner, husband and father, was choked to death in New York.
• John Crawford, who was shot to death when he picked up a toy gun that was for sale in an Ohio Walmart.  
• Seventeen-year-old unarmed Jesús Huerta was shot to death while handcuffed in the back of a police car.  
• Thirteen-year-old Andy Lopez was shot to death in Santa Rosa, CA while carrying a toy gun. 

Local police departments have all too often been ineffective in investigating themselves. It is time for fair, outside, independent, federal investigation and prosecution. 

*Join us in telling Attorney General, Eric Holder, and the Department of Justice to fully intervene in this case and all cases of racially motivated police brutality: 

http://action.momsrising.org/sign/BlackYouthMatter_JusticeMikeBrown/

When we come together and raise our voices, it makes a difference. When no arrest had been made, it took community action, sparked by a mom to bring justice for Renisha McBride. Nineteen year-old Renisha was shot in the face and killed in a Michigan suburb, while seeking help after a car accident.  Her murderer was finally convicted last week.  

We won't be silent about racially motivated violence anywhere! 

Together we are a force for families and justice.