via Wikimedia
In August 2018, Lezley McSpadden announced she would run for a City Council seat in Ferguson, Missouri’s Ward 3.
Despite running on a police accountability platform, inspired by firsthand experience in the wake of her son’s killing, this race would not be easily won.
McSpadden knew that system wide reform begins with conversations that happen in rooms the public lacks direct access to.
As a member of the city government, she hoped to elevate her involvement in decisions surrounding police oversight and authority as well as access to mental health services and after school programming for her community.
Unfortunately, she was running against very strong opponents with larger bases of support.
In April 2019, McSpadden lost the 3-way election to Fran Griffin, another Black woman who is also a local activist.
Griffin did, however, beat out incumbent Keith Kallstrom. The community — including McSpadden — hopes that a new council member will provide fresh energy to tackle persistent issues that impact Black residents. And they intend on holding her accountable every step of the way.
Now more than ever, we need, as McSpadden shared with Vox, “people, like [her], who have been harmed by the system working inside it to make the right change,” turning our pain into power and progress.