Wanted: Great Leader

Chaos was unleashed last night not only in Ferguson, but also in major cities across America like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New York City, after a grand jury decided not to charge Officer Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown. The decision sparked anger and frustration in many people that spread like wildfire throughout America, initiating protests and riots. Though “in most places the demonstrations were peaceful,” in Ferguson, Missouri: “Shops were looted and burned on Ferguson’s main street. There were smoke bombs, tear gas, thrown rocks and random gunshots. In Ferguson, the aftermath of the shooting death of Michael Brown was almost as bitter and hollow as his killing itself.”

John Eligon of The New York Times tells all about these protests in his recent article In Protests from Midwest to Both Coasts, Fury Boils Over. Eligon provides commentary from many protestors, rioters, or witnesses to the spectacle that happened. Many claimed it wasn’t about it looting or expression of ideas, but it was to demand fairness in a powerful way. One man said, “This is not about vandalizing, this is about fighting a police organization that doesn’t care about the lives they serve.” They all had one thing in common: they felt the demonstrations and they themselves were a part of something longer. One man interestingly added, “The Selma marches, and Martin Luther King, and the civil rights activists, but now, this is life. This is history. I’m just out here really as a witness.”

Could this decision really provoke the need for change in the system and therefore make history, like the man suggests? But the even more pressing question is if so, what great leader will do so? Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks are not only examples of hard working activists who had the courage to speak out and act against the injustice of discrimination, but also models of pure greatness. The disruptive and destructive protests that took place last night caused much controversy throughout the country and it seems as though this tactic might not prove to be the most effective. What is needed is a leader. A leader with the courage to take on this factious topic and the drive to persevere through the obstacles that lay ahead. A leader that has clear, moral goals and productive means of reaching them. What is needed is someone great. If this problem persists, someone will need to rise above the rest. Who will be the modern day Martin Luther King Jr., or Jackie Robinson, or Rosa Parks? Who will show the qualities of greatness?