Thursday, November 27, 2014

Questions about Michael Brown's history

Sorry for such a long time since I've posted. There's been a lot going on and I've been spending most of my online time in discussions with others about the recent elections, politics in general, and current events. But I'm going to try to get back here as often as possible. One of the blogs I've been following closely is by a law enforcement officer involved in the events surrounding the protests and rioting in Ferguson, MO following the shooting death of black Michael Brown by white Officer Darren Wilson. It's a very well written blog from a great perspective. You can read it here: 


So my latest post to him was full of questions on Michael Brown's background. He's been described repeatedly as a "gentle giant" but the gentle side of him seemed to be missing the day of his death. Both during a strong-arm robbery committed just before the interaction with Wilson and during that interaction, Brown was very aggressive, using his size to his advantage (6'5" and 290-300 lbs.) It just occurred to me that, even given all the news reports and social media I have been reading, I haven' t seen anything that goes into depth about his background. That triggers a lot of questions. So I'm asking them. Following is my post on the officer's blog.
www.dissonantwinstonsmith.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/a-community-implodes/
 You can find it under realBKW:

"This question has naught to do with this particular post, but it’s something I’m curious about. I know it’s been reported Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were headed to the home of Michael’s grandmother, because he was living with her. Any confirmation on that? Is that truly where they were headed and did he really live there? If he did live with her, does anybody know why? Both of his parents are alive and involved in the activities following his death, so why wasn’t their son living with one of them? Being familiar with the area, do you know if there is a difference between where their homes are located and where the grandmother lives? Is one neighborhood “better” than the others? I’m wondering if, as in some cases, Brown had had some problems with his parents and been sent to the grandmother, or if he’d been sent there to be of help to her, or if his parents “abandoned him” to his grandmother. Also, if he did live with her, any idea how long he was there? How old was he when he went to her? I suppose it’s possible he’d just moved in to be closer to the tech school he was allegedly going to begin attending “that Monday.” Has anybody confirmed that he WAS going to start school? Hopefully you or someone else can shed light on this background info. I know it’s not uncommon in cases where there’s just a single mother and she has problems with addiction or finances or child neglect and the grandparent(s) raise the child(ren.) This happens in white families but I think moreso in black families. Or maybe the grandmother just lived in a better school district. Oh, that creates the question of where the parents live. Does either, or do both, live in Ferguson? Okay, that’s it. For now! Thanks to anybody who can help satisfy my curiosity!"