BEFORE FERGUSON BEYOND FERGUSON
Before Ferguson
Beyond Ferguson
Advancing Racial Equity Through The Power of Storytelling
Life in St. Louis’s most vulnerable neighborhoods amid the coronavirus
This series is produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Additional support is provided by the the Buckingham Strategic Wealth Pillar Grant Program, and the St. Louis Press Club.
The pandemic threatens Jamaica Ray’s life and livelihood as a street musician and artist
The pandemic has all but stolen Jamaica Ray's livelihood, but he refuses to let it crush his spirit. For two months, Ray had nowhere to play his steel drums as he had been doing for the last several years in front of the iconic century-old Crown Candy Kitchen. Before the government shut businesses down, Jamaica earned tips from appreciative patrons as they waited for as long as an hour to get their sandwiches, ice cream treats and other delectables.
“I’m 63 years old, mon, a senior citizen. That’s who it (the virus) catches. People want to shake my hand, get close to me, play my drums and take pictures. I can’t take chances.”
Read the full story at the St. Louis American or download a PDF by clicking here.
In the time of the pandemic, the would-be science guy nurtures the dreams of his children.
As a kid, Steven Jones was smart and a little nerdy, an only child who secretly wanted to be Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Now he’s 33, unemployed, disabled, and facing a global pandemic that none of the scientists can quite explain. His fiercest hopes are for the careers his daughters might pursue—doctor, lawyer, journalist—whatever gives them a foothold on a future as bright as the one he’d once envisioned for himself.
A military brat with a strict single mother, Jones says he “dressed properly, didn’t sag. She kept me very structured, in a smaller box than other children.”
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Read the full story at St. Louis Magazine or download a PDF the story by clicking here.
Chapter 2: First the pandemic, then the protests.
A young mother locks her doors.
Squinting to read an ingredients label at the grocery store, Courtnesha Rogers breaks down. Tears stream down her face and blur the print. She stands there, sniffling it all back, trying to pull herself together as other shoppers, wary in the time of COVID-19, make a wide detour around her.
Her friend’s death would have been easier to take if it were COVID-19, she thinks. Two days ago, Marcia, a close friend since high school, was in the car with some guy she was probably head over heels in love with. Then, for some reason Rogers is sure had nothing to do with Marcia, bullets strafed the car.
The guy is in critical condition. Marcia is dead.
Read the full story at the Riverfront Times, or download a PDF of the story by clicking here.
Read an earlier story about Courtnesha Rogers at the Riverfront Times, or get a PDF of the story by clicking here.
Homeschooling when home isn't safe
Five-year-old Meegale Hundley can’t wait to race his bike outside.
It’s been 60 days since he’s been allowed to venture outdoors. He hasn’t gone to a park once or even stepped in the backyard at his grandma’s house. But today, he’s so excited he can barely sit still for his school work.
The coronavirus pandemic led to cancelled classes for him and his 4-year-old sister, Madison, since mid-March. His mom, Tyra Johnson, 30, set up a strict daily schedule for their distance learning.
Read the full story at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch or download a PDF of the story by clicking here
Kim Daniel, age 53, and living with a lifelong congenital heart defect, faces the pandemic alone
Kim has stared death in the eye more times than she can count. But this coronavirus has her more than scared. ‘“It’s intimidating,” she says. “I don’t walk out the door without a mask, gloves, baby wipes and rubbing alcohol.”
Kim’s door opens into a tidy two-bedroom apartment in an affordable housing development called Preservation Square. It is located just a mile west of downtown St. Louis, in a zip code that has been identified as ranking last in our region for social determinants of health. A lot of factors go into that ranking, but the key one is that, on average, people living in 63106 will die sooner than most anyone else in metropolitan St. Louis.
Read the full story at St. Louis Public Radio, or download a PDF of the story by clicking here.
Pandemic-related resources
Rebeccah Bennett, founder of the InPower Institute, provides candid and useful guidance to Black St. Louisans on how to deal with the pandemic. It is offered through PrepareSTL, a portal for all things related to COVID-19.
Read this clearly-written and well-presented package from Forward Through Ferguson and Washington University's Prevention Research Center on how the pandemic falls most heavily on Black residents. It's a multi-part series with interactive graphics that is continually updated with fresh data and insights.
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