Michael Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, is still grieving but has found a way to turn her grief into something positive. She has founded The Michael O.D. Brown ‘We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation’ and the Rainbow of Mother’s initiative to help young people and mothers who have lost children to violence.
“We had our very first meeting May 1. It’s a foundation built all around my son, especially for the youth with special programs for mothers who are mourning the loss of sons and daughters,” McSpadden said.
“It’s more so a lot of questions. People want to know what do I do? I think that question comes after you seek justice and you don’t get it. With my son being a catalyst that sparked such a big movement, we were hoping to see something different. We’re still expecting to see something different. I have so many questions asked but I can’t answer them. I have questions of my own. The system failed us.”
McSpadden is still trying to come to terms with her son’s violent death as well as the movement that sprung up in the wake of his death. But in terms of raising a Black male, McSpadden says the only advice she can offer is to do the best you can with the values and morals that were instilled in you.
“We all were raised differently but I’m quite sure the respect level was instilled in all of us. Everybody has to respect everybody. We have a lot of disrespect going on in St. Louis. I’ve been here all my life. I live in the same house, I drive the same car. I’m trying to stay in the same lane I was in before this happened to my son. I have three other children and it’s hard to make a transition like you’ve been forced to do. If I don’t get up everyday and laugh and joke with them and get some of the support that I need, then it will take me to a depression stage. And I don’t want to be depressed. I have a six-year-old, a 10-year-old and a 16-year-old,” she said.
As far as any message she has for young people, she says that we have to embrace children with positivity and keep them on a positive path.
“Be encouraged,” McSpadden said. “Keep talking to them, keep loving them. You have to stay positive when it comes to dealing with kids. They go off what you show them, not what you tell them. We have to show them what our elders showed us on how to be humble and be peaceful. But we are in a war here, whether we like it or not. I can tell you what Congresswoman in California told me ‘You can be on the table or be on the menu.’ I don’t want to be on the menu.”
