Dot, the events in Ferguson last year changed our country.

The protests against the shooting death of Michael Brown and the extreme police crackdown on those protests helped spark a movement to push back on police brutality and institutional racism.

The Justice Department review of the Ferguson Police Department was so brutal and ugly—calling out the role of police as revenue generators for the city, the regular use of excessive force, and the overwhelming racism permeating the department—that even right-wingers are saying Ferguson police are out of control.

Now, we have a chance to take this movement back to Ferguson and change the system that has made African Americans targets in their communities.

There’s an election in Ferguson in 3 days, and we’re supporting candidates for city council that are vowing to reform this broken system.

Here’s what Ferguson Township Democratic Committeewoman Patricia Bynes has to say about these two amazing candidates:In the 2nd Ward, we are supporting Bob Hudgins, a protest leader and former journalist who is making transparency in government and accountability his platform.

Bob's opponent is current Ferguson Mayor James Knowles' predecessor, who, during his tenure as Mayor, hired both the City Manager that recently resigned and signed off on the widely discredited Police Chief.

In the 3rd Ward, we are enthusiastically backing Lee Smith, a retired union electrician and the first African American President and Business Agent for a local IBEW union in the Midwest. 

Lee is also a widower who has raised ten children in Ferguson and is committed to rebuilding trust in local government.

Lee’s opponent is a lawyer, as well as a prosecutor in one municipality, while serving as a judge in a neighboring municipality.

This is exactly the circle of influence that needs to be stopped in the municipal courts locally and throughout the region.

Keep fighting,
Rachel Colyer, Daily Kos

P.S. Patricia Bynes, the Democratic committeewoman I quoted above, is running an incredible GOTV program for these and other candidates in Ferguson.