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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 11 auguSt 2018

St. Louis DA victory latest for Black Lives Matter movement

By ERRIN HAINES WHACK with the Mothers of the
AP National Writer Movement, black women
When LaShell Eikerenkoet- whose children were killed
ter cast her vote for Wesley by police and white men
Bell in the St. Louis County like Michael Dunn, who fa-
Democratic primary on tally shot 17-year-old Jor-
Tuesday, she took the spirit dan Davis in 2012 in Florida.
of Michael Brown with her Davis' mother, Lucy Mc-
to the ballot box. Bath, is a congressional
She had a sole purpose on candidate who recently
Election Day: Get rid of Bob won a Democratic primary
McCulloch , the veteran runoff for a Georgia House
prosecutor who did not seat. The first-time candi-
get an indictment against date was motivated to en-
the white former Ferguson, ter the race because of her
Missouri, police officer who son's death.
fatally shot the unarmed, In the wake of Ferguson,
black 18-year-old four organizers worked to regis-
years ago this week. ter more black voters. Bell
"To show that four years and Ella Jones, who also
later, when this man — who is black, were elected to
could've given us justice the Ferguson City Council
decided not to and did in the 2015 municipal elec-
everything in his power to tions, where turnout tripled.
do the opposite — that we The city's police chief and a
hadn't forgotten about him judge also resigned.
and that Mike Brown was Ahead of this week's St. Lou-
still in our hearts. ... Getting is County prosecutor's race,
him out was for the fam- the race, more St. Louis polarized NFL fans. And ac- way." the online civil rights orga-
ily, for all the people that County residents voted in tivists have expanded the The same night Alvarez nization Color of Change
have fought, and for ev- the district attorney's con- platform beyond policing lost her election in Illinois sent text messages to more
erybody that we have lost," test for Bell, a black city to address systemic racism two years ago, Cuyahoga than 95,000 residents en-
the 28-year-old Eikeren- councilman, than for any in areas including housing, County voters replaced couraging them to vote for
koetter, who is black, said other candidate on Tues- education and employ- prosecutor Tim McGinty Bell and put up a billboard
Thursday after attending day's ballot — more than ment. for his response to the 2014 supporting Bell. Spokesman
a protest marking the an- 103,000. Nearly 1 in 4 St. "We must always vote for killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rashad Robinson, who has
niversary of Brown's Aug. 9, Louis County residents are issues and not just candi- Rice by a Cleveland police worked to elect district at-
2014, death. "It was about African-American, and dates," said Charlene Car- officer. torneys across the country
so much more than get- blacks make up at least ruthers, national director of Last year, Black Lives Mat- since 2014, said such elec-
ting Bob McCulloch out. It a quarter of the county's BYP100, a Chicago-based ter activists also began to tions are about more than
was about what he repre- Democratic voters. group that mobilized voters turn their attention to state just politics for black voters,
sented." In the five years since the in 2016 to oust Cook County legislatures, launching an but about translating ener-
Bell's 57 percent to 43 Black Lives Matter move- State's Attorney Anita Alva- online platform and build- gy into shifting the rules.
percent victory over Mc- ment began largely on rez for her handling of the ing on momentum at the "For (McCulloch) to go
Culloch, a white prosecutor social media with a galva- 2014 police shooting death national level to push back down this way because of
first elected in 1990, is the nizing hashtag in the wake of 17-year-old Laquan Mc- against President Donald the organizing that took
latest win for the Black Lives of neighborhood watch Donald . Trump's administration, place and because of
Matter movement, which volunteer George Zimmer- "People in elected posi- which has been unfriendly people truly sending a mes-
has increasingly shifted man's acquittal in the 2012 tions have so much power to the movement and has sage that St. Louis deserves
from protest to local poli- shooting death of Trayvon over what our communi- embraced local law en- both safety and justice ... I
tics in recent years. Voters Martin in Florida, the issue ties have and don't have," forcement. hope this sends a power-
concerned with the killing of police killing unarmed Carruthers said. "While we Police reform — absent ful message to district at-
of unarmed black people black people has not do transformative work of from recent presidential torneys around the coun-
by police have made their only made headlines and building alternatives to pris- election cycles — became try that they're on notice,"
voices heard from Ferguson sparked protests across the ons and policing, we can an issue in the 2016 Demo- Robinson said.
to Cleveland to Chicago. country. It also has spurred at a minimum elect candi- cratic presidential nominee For Kayla Reed, the victory
In a clear sign of the inter- political campaigns, mo- dates who will either sup- contest, and candidate made her proud, especial-
est and enthusiasm around tivated black voters and port us or stay out of the Hillary Clinton campaigned ly for her community. q