#Ferguson”—Ms. Gallagher said that it was “Incredible. Powerful. Inspiring.” to see students representing the majority of the crowd. “It hit me that I’d forgotten this wasn’t just any protest of kids who supported a victim, someone who looked like they did, was their age, etc. This was a protest of kids who knew, grew up with, and loved the victim at the center of this national story.” To take a look back at Ms. Gallagher’s tweets via @SupremeBystandr click here. For Ms. Gallagher’s own dissection of the trip, below is the beginning of her article for SupremeBystandr: “This idea of “psychological tourism” became one of many concerns that kept me up much of the night before I went to Ferguson. White tourism became my next fear. What if I come off sounding more privileged than I already look during my interviews and discussions? This seemed a forgone conclusion given my plan was to talk to residents about events that were likely going to reopen the emotional wounds of people who’d lost not only a son but also trust in law enforcement systems. I had to check myself this morning and ask if I really wanted this potentially perverse itinerary for the day:
- Talk to community members, activists, and protestors
- Try on their experiences
- Walk around in them for the day
- Empathize
- Transcribe these experiences
- Hand them back to their undeserving owners
- Catch my flight