By Hazel Erby, First District Councilwoman for St. Louis County
Hazel Erby became the first African American woman to serve on the St. Louis County Council when she was elected in 2004. She is currently serving her third, consecutive term. As a Council member, she held leadership positions as Chair of the County Council and the Committee of the Whole, while Chairman of the Justice, Health and Welfare Committee.
Councilwoman Erby has a long record of improving the quality of life for St. Louis County and the people and businesses she serves. She has been a resident of University City for over 40 years and has a deep understanding of the community she represents. She sponsored and passed foreclosure mediation legislation in St. Louis County.
Ferguson is America coming to terms with issues it has long ignored: an educational system underfunded and under resourced, the flight of big business and the degradation of small ones. Years of social unrest that has spawned a mental health epidemic that has buried families and communities alike. Over the last month, we’ve seen more than just tear gas and smoke bombs, we’ve witnessed America’s commitment to a first-rate sustainable future come into question.
As we move forward, we must take an honest account of our community. The engagement forward must be one that is held on two fronts. Our passion must always remain stead fast at terminating the actions of the unjust, serving as activists for awareness and education.
The path ahead must also create a new order of fiscal parity and employment opportunities. We must utilize our current passion to fix the current mental health state of traumatized communities. This plan must call on leaders in the tech and financial sphere, to do more than just donate funds, but invest in a generation that has been long ignored. If we are going to enact the appropriate change in response to this tragedy, the plan forward must be more concise and systematic than the antagonists that wish to undermine it.
It is going to require more than generosity of time and money to right the wrongs of years of social decay. There must be a true investment with resources, education and substantial job training to restore faith in our disenfranchised youth. Over the last few weeks, this young generation has witnessed the public indict Mike Brown as being responsible for his own untimely demise. How do you raise the prospects of hope for a large group of youth that has been deemed as unworthy in death as they were in life? If we are to regain the trust of the youth, and the parents and guardians tasked in their upbringing, it is going to take a unique and committed coalition to make it happen.
We need a collective approach to rooting out the ills that are impairing the productive growth of these communities. Without a coalition of the willing and able, this fight will not only be ineffective, but in vain.
It is time that our renowned compassion cultivates not only these downtrodden spirits, but elevates the minds of those we’ve left behind. This is a call to strike down the apathy of political dogma and ignite a cause that brings all ideologies to the table to solve this great American crisis.
As the First District Councilwoman for St. Louis County, I stand ready to apply all of the resources at my disposal to be part of this collective effort. We cannot all go off in different directions and try to fix the same problem, as we all have seen. Ferguson is fixable, if we work together toward the same goal. No self-appointed leaders, just people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and go to work. We can do this! There is an old African proverb that states, “Together the ants ate the elephant”. Let’s go to work!
Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the views of the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri- St. Louis.
